RB Leipzig 2-3 Man City: Haaland winner ends five-goal thriller
Man City survived a real scare in Germany but got the job done, coming from being pegged back twice to beat RB Leipzig 3-2 at the Red Bull Arena and keep their Champions League campaign firmly on track. The win moves City back into form in Europe, following their last four Champions League games: WLWW, and comes after a tricky run domestically, with City sitting 2nd in the Premier League.
The scoring was opened in bizarre fashion just before the break when Castello Lukeba turned the ball into his own net under pressure, giving City a 1-0 half-time lead they probably felt they deserved given their dominance of possession. Leipzig came out fighting after the restart though, and levelled through Ridle Baku, who finished from a tight angle on 49 minutes after Brajan Gruda picked him out on the break.
City responded quickly. Enzo Fernández restored the lead with a header on 58 minutes, nodding in Iliman Ndiaye's cross from the centre of the box. But the home side hit back again almost immediately, Antonio Nusa sweeping home a finish from inside the box after Christopher Nkunku, on for Christoph Baumgartner, teed him up on 61 minutes.
With the game level at 2-2 and City needing a response, it was captain Erling Haaland who provided it. Elliot Anderson supplied the cross and Haaland slid the ball home from close range on 78 minutes to make it 3-2 and seal the points, as The Guardian describes it, ending Leipzig's resistance (The Guardian). BBC Sport also credits Haaland with the winning goal in a match that saw City pegged back twice before getting over the line (BBC Sport).
Leipzig were the more combative side in terms of cards, picking up four yellows to City's two - Christoph Baumgartner, Ridle Baku, Neil El Aynaoui and David Raum all booked for the hosts, while Jérémy Doku and Abdukodir Khusanov saw yellow for City late on. City dominated possession with 64.6% of the ball and had 12 shots to Leipzig's 14, though both sides managed just five or six efforts on target respectively.
Manchester Evening News note this was City's first win in four games going into the match, underlining just how important the three points were (Manchester Evening News), while a separate piece from the same outlet suggests an offside moment involving Haaland during the game exposed some ongoing issues within the side despite the victory (Manchester Evening News). ManCity.com's own coverage focused on the captain's influence, framing Haaland as leading by example with the winner in Leipzig (ManCity.com).
Player ratings from Manchester Evening News were mixed, with one City player rated highly at 7 out of 10 while goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was marked down as poor on the night (Manchester Evening News). Despite the shaky moments at the back, City will take the three points and the Champions League form it brings as they continue to push for a strong finish to the league phase.
Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
