Etihad Stadium was the place where Man City got a visit from Dortmund in the UCL quarter-finals. We have tonight’s player ratings.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City had an incredibly difficult first quarter-final leg against Borussia Dortmund tonight at Etihad Stadium. Despite not having an injured Jadon Sancho, Dortmund still had Erling Haaland inside their starting eleven. Young Jude Bellingham also had an important role in tonight’s game despite being 17 years old. But Manchester City played at home, they took advantage of that factor and scored the opener through Kevin De Bruyne.
It was a collective effort that we often see from Pep Guardiola’s sides when they play wide from both flanks. After their goal, Jude scored his own but the ref disallowed it for an alleged foul on Ederson that only he saw. It was a clear legal goal that could’ve changed the whole outcome of the game early on. Despite these details, we got a leveled football match with a lot of action on both boxes.
Foden responds to Haaland’s assist.
Throughout the second half, we saw the youngest players on the pitch offering a masterclass. On Borussia Dortmund’s side, Bellingham led the was for Erling Haaland’s assist to Marco Reus in the equalizer. However, the man of the match was Phil Foden without question after a stellar display. The young English midfielder was on another level and he capped it off with the winning goal near the end of the match.
With this 2-1 victory, Manchester City can at least go to Signal Iduna Park with a small advantage. Youngsters are slowly taking over the game, especially this season with many great players performing at an elite level. It’s not just the usual names like Haaland or Mbappe, there are more names who will dominate football for the next decade. Kudos to Foden for reminding us he too can play outstanding football.
Player ratings
Manchester City: Ederson (7), Walker (7), Stones (8), Dias (8), Cancelo (7), Gundogan (8), Rodri (7), Foden (9), De Bruyne (8), Bernardo (7), Mahrez (7).
Bench: Jesus (9).
Borussia Dortmund: Hitz (7), Hummels (6), Guerreiro (6), Akanji (8), Morey (6), Can (5), Dahoud (6), Knaff (6), Bellingham (7), Reus (7), Haaland (7).
Bench: Reyna (7), Delaney (6), Meunier (6).
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