Saturday 28 / December / 2024
Manchester: Defending champions Manchester City secured their spot in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League with Erling Haaland among the strikers who helped the treble-holders beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the second leg of the round of 16 tie on late Wednesday night.
Now, with an aggregate of 6-2, City have advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament. The QF draw will take place on March 15.
Goals came from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez within the first 10 minutes of the match. Alvarez's outswinger from a corner found Akanji and the center-back swung his right foot at the ball and netted it into the nets with a side-footed volley in the fifth minute.
Just four minutes later, Alvarez also got his goal. First, it was Rodri who hit the frame of the goal and Alvarez later shot on the angle and the goalkeeper Kamil Grabara fumbled it.
Mohamed Elyounoussi however put FC Copenhagen back in the game with perhaps the best strike of the night. Coming running from the deep, he threaded the ball in behind and a backheel by Orri Oskarsson allowed him to collect the return pass and score his goal. It was 2-1, in favor of City in the 29th minute.
At the near end of the first half, Haaland entered. He seized an angled pass from Rodri and fired low into the nets to triple his side's lead.
City managed to hold on to the lead in the second half.
On the other hand, multi-time UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid and RB Leipzig played out a 1-1 draw at Santiago Bernabeu during the second leg of their round of 16 tie. But the Spanish giants managed to edge past Leipzig by a small lead of 2-1 on aggregate and get their quarterfinal spot.
Despite these figures, Leipzig was a better team during the match, missing several chances. They registered 20 shots as compared to 11 by Real Madrid.
The Carlo Ancelotti-managed Real Madrid managed to raise the tempo in the second half. In their battle for the 15th Champions League title, it was Vinicius Junior who gave Real Madrid the lead in the 65th minute with a great counter-attacking side.
Willi Orban levelled the scores just three minutes later with a powerful header, paving the way for the tense final 20 minutes or so of the game, which also included a missed strike by Dani Olmo that could have put Leipzig ahead. (ANI)
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