English Manchester City failed to maintain its lead with the goal of Algerian star Riyad Mahrez, and returned from Germany in a 1-1 draw with its German host Leipzig in the first leg of the Champions League final price, while Inter Milan beat Porto 1-0 in the same round.
In the first match at the “Red Bull Arena”, Manchester finished the first half ahead with an unanswered goal, scored by Riyad Mahrez in the 27th minute, with a wonderful shot on the edge of the penalty area that hit goalkeeper Janis Blasvic.
This is the 20th goal in the career of Riyad Mahrez in the Champions League, and they all came in the Manchester City shirt, and the eleventh this season in all competitions.
Algerian Riyad Mahrez guides Manchester City to the goal of progress on Leipzig # Leipzig_City # European_Champions_League #Champions_League pic.twitter.com/Ri6eAxC7gS
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) February 22, 2023
Leipzig was toothless in the first half, but improved a lot after the break and outperformed its opponent, who is seeking to reach the quarter-finals in the Champions League for the sixth consecutive season.
The English team failed to maintain its progress and conceded in the second half the equalizing goal by Croatian defender Jusko Gvardiol in the 70th minute with a powerful header that hit the Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson Morais.
Television replays showed that Gvardiol committed a violation of jumping on the opponent while jumping in the air to score the goal (which is one of the violations of Article 12 that requires the award of a direct free kick), and placed his hands clearly on the shoulders of the Manchester City defender.
It was expected that the video assistant referee (VAR), who watched the replays well, would intervene, but this did not happen in a strange way, although it is one of the four cases in which the mouse referee must intervene.
It suffices that had it not been for Gvardiol to put his hand on the shoulder of the City defender, he would not have been able to stand still in the air in a way that enabled him to turn the ball with his head with the utmost comfort, and he also impeded his opponent's jump as well, and the correct decision was to cancel the goal and award a direct free kick against him.
His colleague, who was just behind him, also jumped on the shoulder of the City defender.
Gvardiol = special talent 👏#UCL pic.twitter.com/ElNTNgGD1g
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 22, 2023
The return match will be held at Manchester City Stadium on March 14.
City have now drawn their last two matches following their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last Saturday, while Leipzig's winning streak in the competition ended at 4 matches.
Manchester City has never won the Champions League, and its coach, Pep Guardiola, in particular, who was crowned twice as Barcelona coach, has not done so since 2011 in his penultimate season at Camp Nou.
City was just around the corner from winning the continental title when it reached the final, but it lost to its neighbor Chelsea with a goal in 2021.
City qualified for the current round after leading Group G with 14 points, as it won 4 matches and drew in two matches, without receiving any loss.
As for Leipzig, it reached the round of 16, runners-up to Real Madrid, the leader of Group F, with 12 points, from 4 wins and two defeats.
Lukaku dedicates victory to Inter # Inter_Porto # European_Champions_League #Champions_League pic.twitter.com/m60oi4iGlJ
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) February 22, 2023
In the second match, Romelu Lukaku scored near the end to give Inter a 1-0 victory over ten players from Porto.
Substitute Lukaku followed a rebound from the post into the goal 4 minutes before the end, 8 minutes after Ottavio, the Porto player, was sent off for receiving a second yellow card.
Lukaku dedicates victory to Inter # Inter_Porto # European_Champions_League #Champions_League pic.twitter.com/m60oi4iGlJ
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) February 22, 2023
Inter will visit Porto in the return match on March 14.
Former international referee