Foden gives City slender lead over Dortmund
MANCHESTER City would maybe have taken this result had they been offered it beforehand. A win against a side every bit as capable and dangerous as Pep Guardiola had warned they would be.
On the balance of play and major incident, meanwhile, this was a victory that felt like a blessing. City got away with one here. They will have to be much better if they are to win the Champions League for the first time.
Guardiola’s team won courtesy of a Kevin De Bruyne goal midway through the first half and a late winner from Phil Foden that followed minutes after Marco Reus had scored the equaliser Dortmund very much deserved.
In the middle of all that, they were helped enormously by referee Ovidiu Hategan.
Having already overturned a City penalty after a look at the pitchside monitor with the score at 1-0, the Romanian official inexplicably called England’s Jude Bellingham for an invisible foul on City goalkeeper Ederson just before half-time. The goal was wide open and there was no infringement. It was a huge error by the official.
So this was a game that could have ultimately gone a little differently. City were rather blunt at times, only really dangerous in the last ten minutes. Dortmund’s Erling Haaland worried them, meanwhile. He set up Reus’ goal with a cute pass and almost scored one of his own just after half-time.
An away goal will encourage Dortmund and so will their performance. If they play like this again in Germany, City will do well to better last season’s disappointment and reach the last four.
City lacked a little of their customary sharpness while the German team moved the ball swiftly and cleverly through the midfield.
Much attention had been on 20-year-old Haaland in the build- up but in terms of the football, it was 17-yearold Bellingham who was influencing the game more.
His angled shot in the ninth minute — beaten away by Ederson — was the first of the game. City, without a recognised centre forward in their lineup and with Raheem Sterling a substitute, were forced to defend more than they may have anticipated for 15 minutes or so. But when Emre Can coughed up the ball to Riyad Mahrez in the centre of the field in the 19th minute, City tore through to score.
Mahrez moved the ball quickly to De Bruyne and he moved it on in turn to Foden on the left. The low cross towards Mahrez at the far post was slightly over hit but when the 30-year-old collected the ball, he was able to look up and lay it in to the path of De Bruyne, who scored from nine yards.
Worse almost followed for the German team, and indeed for Can, ten minutes later.
A free-kick from the right was flicked on and when the Dortmund player attempted to divert the ball away from Rodri with a flick of his heel the City midfielder went down. Referee Hategan gave the penalty immediately and booked Can. But a look at the pitchside monitor was encouraged by the VAR officials and that revealed Can had made little — if any — contact with his opponent.
Towards the end of the half, Ederson attempted to control the ball outside his own penalty area. He offered just the sniff of an opportunity to Bellingham.
Quick to nudge the ball away from the Brazilian, Bellingham ran through to score in to an empty goal only to find the referee had blown for a foul. Replays showed there had been no semblance of one.
Reus equalised in the 84th minute as he lifted the ball skilfully over Ederson. But City won it in the 90th minute. A superb crossfield ball from De Bruyne found Ilkay Gundogan on the left and when he turned it inside to Foden, the midfielder scored.
De Bruyne, speaking to BT Sport about his pass for City’s winner, said: ‘I try to look up before I get the ball, try to get a picture of what is happening.’
MANCHESTER CITY (4-1-4-1): Ederson 6; Walker 6, Stones 7, Dias 7, Cancelo 7; Rodri 6; Mahrez 7, De Bruyne 8, Gundogan 7, Foden 8; Silva 6 (Jesus 59). Subs not used: Steffen, Laporte, Aguero, Fernandinho, Torres, Mendy, Sterling, Zinchenko, Trafford, Ake, Garcia. Booked: None. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (4-5-1): Hitz 6; Morey 6 (Meunier 81), Akanji 6, Hummels 6, Guerreiro 6; Knauff 6 (Reyna 63), Bellingham 7, Can 5, Dahoud 6 (Delaney 81), Reus 7; Haaland 7. Subs not used: Drljaca, Burki, Schulz, Piszczek, Passlack, Reinier, Brandt, Tigges, Hazard. Booked: Can, Bellingham. Man of the match: Phil Foden. Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (Romania).