Match report: Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
David Hytner was lucky enough to be at the Etihad Stadium to see Manchester City win an absorbing and at times controversial semi-final first leg with a late goal from Phil Foden. Here’s how he saw the action unfold.
Pep Guardiola speaks ...
“It’s better to win than draw,” he tells BT Sport. “But at 1-1 we still had 90 minutes to do it. It’s 2-1 in the Champions League and we are going there to win the game. In the first half we were not clever with the ball but in the second half we were much better and had two or three chances at 1-0 to score the second and the third. Unfortunately it didn’t happen but then when they made it 1-1 we scored the final goal. It’s a good result.”
Asked about the penalty decision that wasnb’t given to City and the Jude Bellingham shot into an empty net that was prevented by over-zealous officiating, Pep diplomatically insists that he didn’t see either incident.
Marco Reus speaks ....
“We’re annoyed,” he tells DAZN. “Conceding a second right before the end was unnecessary. Two seconds of us switching off and they showed their quality. We have to stop the cross coming in. On the whole, I think we produced a great performance.
“In the first half we didn’t show as much bravery as we did in the second half, which was better. It was an even game, City had more possession and a few dangerous chances, but we managed the game really well and it’s such a shame that this fight, energy and passion we brought to the pitch wasn’t rewarded.”
Mats Hummels speaks ...
“Our chance is still there,” he tells DAZN. “It would have been even better at 1-1, which is a great result in the knockout stages. We know we have to score in the second leg, but we saw tonight that we created more chances than they did, which wasn’t necessarily to be expected. We have to do the same in the second leg. It will be a big challenge.
“We threw everything into this game. It’s the type of performance we should be producing every three days. If we’d have gone home with a 1-1 draw we’d have been happy, but the late goal for City doesn’t leave us with a good feeling even though we did a lot right tonight.”
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Kevin De Bruyne speaks ...
“We saw the way they played,” he says in an interview with BT Sport. “They played really well with the ball. It causes some problems sometimes. I think in the first half we had a little bit of difficulty finding the chances but in the second half we created a few.
“We probably should have scored a little bit more but obviously when they came back to 1-1, that was a little shame but OK, it happens. I think the reaction was really good so to get the win is good. We know 2-1 is a tricky score but at least we are ahead for the second leg.”
Full time: Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! A splendid game of football draws to a close with Manchester City winning the first leg of this quarter-final by the odd goal of three. Borussia Dortmund thought they were going to escape with a draw after Marco Reus had cancelled out Kevin De Bruyne’s opener and it would have been no more than they deserved.
However, having missed several good chances, the otherwise outstanding Phil Foden popped up with a late, late winner to give Manchester City the advantage going into a beautifully poised second leg.
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90+3 min: That pass from Kevin De Bruyne was ridiculously good.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (Foden 90)
City re-take the lead! Phil Foden slots a diagonal effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the six yard box, getting on the end of a Gundogan pull-back from trhe byline. Hats off to Kevin De Bruyne, whose 30-yard pin-point pass from the inside right flank to pick out Gundogan was sublime.
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88 min: Dortmund have been hanging on at times in this second half but never looked out of the game. Yes, they’ve relied on Manchester City profligacy in front of goal at times but deserve their equaliser considering the travesty of refereeing justice that was visited upon them in the first half.
86 min: That was a cracking goal for Dortmund. Jude Bellingham began the move in midfield, playing the ball forward to Haaland. With his back to goal, he played a splendid first-time pass around the corner into space for Reus to chase and the German made no mistake after finding himself through on goal. This changes the complexion of the tie completely.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (Reus 84)
Dortmund equalise! It’s all square at the Etihad after Marco Reus clips the ball past Ederson and inside the far post.
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83 min: Another ball over the top for Haaland to chase but it doesn’t bounce kindly for him. Ederson beats him to it and sends City on their way again.
82 min: Borussia Dortmund double-substitution: Thomas Delaney and Thomas Meunier on for Mahmoud Dahoud and Mateu Morey.
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80 min: Foden slaloms through the Dortmund defence again before shanking an awful shot well wide of the far post with his left foot.
79 min: City are in total control of this game but still lead by just one goal. They’ll be happy enough if the game finishes like this, while one suspects Dortmund will be absolutely delighted.
76 min: De Bruyne skips across the face of the Dortmund penalty area, lines up a shot and spanks the ball a couple of feet wide of the far post. Moments later, Foden has a clear shot on goal but shoots straight at Marwin Hitz again. Dortmund’s players are tiring and the gaps are opening.
74 min: Another hopeful ball is lofted forward in the general direction of Haaland and Reus. City clear.
72 min: Brilliant play down the inside left by Foden, who dribbles past two players and squares the ball only to see his low cross cleared.
70 min: Innovative play from Reus on the edge of the final third but he runs out of road and into a wall of resistance before he can pick out a teammate following his darting dash from midfield.
68 min: Gabriel Jesus looks forlorn after being dispossessed by Can in midfield, going to ground and not getting a foul. He looks imploringly at the referee and shakes his head in frustration.
64 min: Kevin De Bruyne picks up a pass on the right flank and sprints in behind Mats Hummels to the byline. He pulls the ball back to Phil Foden who fires low, hard and straight at Marwin Hitz. You’d have bet the farm on Foden to score there and it would have been yet another pull-back-smashed-home textbook City goal.
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64 min: Dortmund substitution: Gio Reyna is on for Ansgar Kauff.
62 min: Marco Reus fires the free-kick straight into the defensive wall. It’s a poor effort. The ball comes back his way but he pulls a wild shot well wide.
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61 min: John Stones fouls Haaland just outside the City penalty area. Free-kick for Dortmund, just inside the D. It’s dead centre.
59 min: Raphael Guerreiro tries to pick out Haaland with a ball through the middle but it’s cut out by Dias before the big lad can get to it.
57 min: A Cancelo crossfield ball to Foden is cut out and Borussia Dortmund gets some time on the ball. Manchester City substitution: Gabriel Jesus on for Bernardo Silva.
54 min: Dortmund have scored in each of their past 37 games. Can they bag themselves an away goal tonight? They’ve already been denied a shot from close range into an unguarded net by an over-zealous official and they continue to look threatening in this second half despite their paucity of possession.
52 min: City break from a Dortmund corner and De Bruyne plays a wonderful cross-field ball to Foden in acres of space on the right flank. Hiks first touch his poor but he controls the ball at his second attempt and waits for Walker to charge past him on the overlap. By the time the full-back does so, Dortmund have cut off the passing lane.
49 min: Haaland was unfortunate there. As he held off Dias, the City defender fell over on the edge of the penalty area causing Haaland to go slightly off balance. He never quite regained it and was unable to lift thre ball over Ederson as he would have liked.
48 min: Erling Haaland gets on the ball for the first time in front of goal, scorching through with the ball at his feet and holding off Ruben Dias. Ederson is quick off his line and the slightly off-balance Norwegian is unable to lift the ball over the goalkeeper, who saves with his legs.
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46 min: Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Manchester City’s players pass the ball around the middle third, not giving their opponents a sniff of it.
Second half: Manchester City 1-0 Borussia Dortmund
46 min: City kick off with no changes in personnel on either side.
Rodri: It is interesting that the Manchester City midfielder wasn’t booked for simulation following the referee’s decision to overturn the penalty he originally awarded to City on the advice of his video assistant.
The Spaniard ducked to head the ball as it fizzed past him, wasn’t fouled but went to ground as if shot holding his hands to his face. He quite deliberately and successfully tried to mislead the referee, making him look stupid in the process. VAR spared Mr Hategan’s blushes but he elected not to punish Rodri for his deception.
Elsewhere in the Champions League: There have been goals in the game between Real Madrid and Liverpool. Rob Smyth has the latest.
Half-time: Manchester City 1-0 Borussia Dortmund
Peep! An entertaining, controversial half draws to a close. A mistake by Liverpool old boy Emre Can led to Manchester City taking the lead through Kevin De Bruyne, who smashed home a Riayd Mahrez pull-back from the byline.
Referee Ovidiu Hategan then awarded City a penalty that was correctly overturned by his video assistant referee Marco Di Bello, but blew his whistle prematurely to deny Jude Bellingham a shot into an empty net having adjudged the Dortmund midfielder to have fouled Ederon as he dispossessed the dithering keeper on the edge of his own penalty area.
It was a very poor and needlessly premature decision by the Romanian referee and Bellingham looked understandably annoyed as he walked off at half-time. City lead but have dodged a potentially devastating bullet.
44 min: City break in a five-on-four counter and Mats Hummels is forced to hack a bouncing ball clear unceremoniously.
42 min: It boggles the mind that the referee didn’t just wait until Bellingham poked the ball into the empty net, before deciding with the help of his video assistant whether or not Bellingham had fouled Ederson in the build-up. That’s why we have VAR. His confidence that he was making the right decision was as arrogant as it was misguided.
40 min: Foden brings a smart save out of Hitz at his near post but his effort wouldn’t have counted even if he had scored - the linesman’s flag was up.
33 min: Ederson dawdles on the ball just outside the his own penalty area and is dispossessed by Bellingham. With the Dortmund midfielder clear through on an empty goal, referee Ovidiu Hategan blows his whistle before he slots it intyo the back of the net.
He penalises and books Bellingham for a foul on Ederson and the fact he blew his whistle before the youngster fired home means his decision can’t be reviewed by VAR. That is an atrocious refereeing decision - Bellingham won the ball completely cleanly!!!
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34 min: Ansgar Knauff is penalised – harshly – for a foul on Gundogan, wide on the left. Foden curls the ball into the Dortmund penalty area, where about three different City players are offside. I think it’s John Stones who gets a touch on it and sends it straight into the hands of Marwin Hitz in the Dortmund goal.
Penalty overturned by VAR
32 min: Ovidiu overturns the decision, quite correctly in my view, but doesn’t appear to ostentationsly “unbook” Can after showing him a yellow card in the wake of his extremely low “high boot”. It can’t possibly still stand, can it?
30 min: That has to be overturned. The ball broke to Can in the penalty area, who attempted to kick it as Rodri bent down low to head it. Can’s foot connected with Rodri’s knee or hand, not his head. Referee Ovidiu Hategan is looking at his pitchside monitor.
Penalty for Man City!
28 min: Free-kick for Manchester City, wide on the right. Kevin De Bruyne whips the ball into the penalty area and Emre Can is penalised for a high boot on Rodri. Penalty for City, but I suspect it will be overturned by VAR.
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26 min: Mahrez plays the ball sideways to Gundogan on the edge of the Dortmund penalty area and he shapes to shoot. Manuel Akanji blocks his effort almost before it leaves his foot.
23 min: Marco Reus attempts to play Haaland in behind the City defence but the big striker’s control lets him down again. Moments later, Reus stretches to try to prod a through ball goalwards after Cancelo had been pressured into a mistake but succeeds only in fouling Ederson. Free-kick for City.
21 min: Can gave the ball away in midfield and City surged forward with De Bruyne on the ball. He played it left and wide to Foden, who squared it across the face of goal. Riyad Mahrez trapped it on the byline, then pulled it into the path of De Bruyne., The Belgian spanked it into the bottom corner from the edge of the six-yard box.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Borussia Dortmund (De Bruyne 19)
City capitalise on a mistake in midfield by Emre Can and take the lead courtesy of Kevin De Bruyne. It’s a classic City goal.
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16 min: Ilkay Gundogan is penalised for a foul on Jude Bellingham in the centre circle, which prevents the Dortmund midfielder from dashing into space with the ball at his feet. Fernandinho might not be playing tonight but his spirit lives on.
15 min: Haaland miscontrols a ball played his way through the centre, allowing John Stones to step in and clear.
13 min: City continue to dominate possession but unlike their visitors, they have yet to muster a shot on target. John Stones thumps a header forward towards Phil Foden from midfield, but Dortmund clear.
12 min: De Bruyne sends the ball in again but the referee blows his whistle and penalises Ruben Dias for fouling Manuel Akanji.
11 min: De Bruyne’s delivery is poor and Emre Can heads the ball behind at the near post. Another corner.
10 min: After that early scare, City get their foot on the ball again and continue pinging it around between themselves. Riyad Mahrez wins his side a corner.
7 min: Chance! A brilliant pass by Manuel Ikanji bypasses the entire City midfield and the ball drops for Jude Bellingham. He moves it on to his left foot in the penalty area and brings a smart save out of Ederson. The ball doesn’t break kindly for Haaland, who was lurking with intent. Dortmund win a corner but nothing comes of it.
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6 min: Kevin De Bruyne squares the ball across the edge of the Dortmund penalty area, trying to pick out Ilkay Gundogan. Mamoud Dahoud reads the Belgian’s intentions and intercepts.
5 min: Manchester City continue to monopolise the ball, but Emre Can relieves Phil Foden of possession and Dortmund go forward with Marco Reus, then Bellingham on the ball.
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3 min: Ederson gets his first touch, rushing off his line to punch the ball clear off the head of Ansgar Knapff, a 19-year-old who is making his first ever start for Dortmund.
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2 min: Manchester City dominate possession in these very early stages, pinging the ball hither and yon so all their players apart from Ederson seem to get a touch. Ilkay Gundogan is dispossessed by Mateu Moreu over by the touchline.
Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund is go ...
1 min: Jude Bellingham gets the ball rolling for Dortmund after the players of both sides take the now customary knee.
Not long now: Manchester City are first out of the tunnel at the Etihad Stadium, followed closely by the visitors, Borussia Dortmund. City have been knocked out at this stage of the competition in each of the past three seasons and while not in the best of form, their opponents in this quarter-final are no mugs. Both sets of players line up either side of referee Ovidiu Hategan and his team of match officials for the Champions League anthem. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
Follow both tonight’s matches with the Guardian: Big TV dictates the starting times, which means both tonight’s quarter-final first legs kick off simultaneously. It’s a shame but you can keep tabs on both with the Guardian – Rob Smyth has all the latest from Liverpool’s game against Real Madrid.
Jude Bellingham: The teenager is just one of three Englishmen in the Dortmund squad. His team-mates Erling Haaland and Gio Reyna may not have declared for the country of their birth, but are as English as apologising for things that aren’t your fault, not apologising for things that are your fault and boring on about the weather. Haaland was born in Leeds, while Reyna is a Sunderland boy. Both emerged blinking into the world while their fathers played football in the Premier League.
Those teams: Raheem Sterling is a surprise omission from Manchester CIty’s starting line-up, while Phil Foden comes in as one of five changes to the City team that beat Leicester on Saturday. Bernardo Silva also comes in as part of what is likely to be an interchangable front three that also includes Kevin De Bruyne but no out and out striker. Joao Cancelo comes in for Benjamin Mendy, despite the left-back’s goalscoring exploits against Leicester, while John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan also return.
Edin Terzic makes three changes to the Dortmund side that lost their crunch Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Nico Schulz, Thomas Delaney and Thorgan Hazard are dropped to the bench, with Mateu Morey, Ansgar and Mahmoud coming in. It looks like 17-year-old Stourbridge boy Jude Bellingham will start on the right of a midfield three.
Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan, Bernardo, Foden, Mahrez, De Bruyne
Subs: Steffen, Trafford, Ake, Sterling, Jesus, Aguero, Zinchenko, Laporte, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Garcia
Borussia Dortmund: Hitz, Morey, Hummels, Akanji, Guerreiro, Can, Dahoud, Bellingham, Reus, Knauff, Haaland
Subs: Burki, Drljaca, Delaney, Hazard, Schulz, Brandt, Reinier, Meunier, Piszczek, Tigges, Passlack, Reyna
Your City team to duel Dortmund! ⚔️
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 6, 2021
XI | Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Bernardo, Foden, Mahrez, De Bruyne (C)
SUBS | Steffen, Trafford, Ake, Sterling, Jesus, Aguero, Zinchenko, Laporte, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Garcia
🔷 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/x2ITGJURvv
🚨 BVB STARTING XI VS. MANCHESTER CITY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/AIuDRfK8YY
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 6, 2021
Tonight's match officials
- Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan
- Assistant referees: Octavian Șovre and Sebastien Gheorghe
- Fourth official: István Kovács ROU
- VAR: Marco Di Bello
Edin Terzic speaks
“City are currently the strongest team in the world with incredible quality,” said Borussia Dortmund’s coach. “It’s an exciting task where we need to show our top performance across both matches. City will hold a lot of possession, we have to assume that tomorrow. They like to tire their opponents out in order to open up space. When we have the ball, we have to get going. That is when it becomes difficult to stop us.
Pep Guardiola speaks
“Maybe this season they’ve struggled to be consistent, but if you analyse the individual quality, then every player is fantastic,” said the Manchester City manager, upon being quizzed on the subject of tonight’s opponents. “We could talk about [Mats] Hummels, [Emre] Can, [Thomas] Meunier, [Mahmoud] Dahoud ... everyone. [Erling] Haaland, [Jadon] Sancho, [Thorgan] Hazard, [Marco] Reus, [Julian] Brandt. The young players from the academy are fantastic players. They were able to beat Sevilla, who are a master team in knockout stages.
“When I analyse a team, I never see the table. It is a football game and it starts from 0-0. We have two legs and the team that plays better will go through. When I was in Munich, [Dortmund] were our big rivals. Every year we had to fight against them. We played three years, the first season with Jürgen Klopp and after with Thomas Tuchel. We played two times, the cup final.”
Early team news
Pep Guardiola has a full complement of players to choose from ahead of tonight’s game and given the vast depth of quality at his disposal, Mystic Meg herself would have trouble predicting the 11 players he’ll pick to start. Few if any media outlets agree on their predicted City starting line-up, but looking at the side he picked to face Leicester on Saturday, it would be no great surprise to see some or all of Phil Foden, Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling return to his attack. What is not in any doubt is that whatever team Guardiola sends out will be a very strong one.
Former City youngster Jadon Sancho has been ruled out of the first leg against his former club with a thigh problem, although his compatriot Jude Bellingham looks a likely starter for Borussia Dortmund. Midfielder Axel Witsel and defender Dan-Axel Zagadou are also sidelined with injury. Currently being hawked around Europe to the highest bidder by his agent Mino Raiola and father Alfie, Erling Haaland will spearhead Dortmund’s attack against his – dare we say it – future employers.
Champions League QF first leg: Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund
The Etihad Stadium in Manchester is the setting for tonight’s quarter-final first leg between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, with the hosts hot favourites to advance to the semi-finals at the expense of their German visitors.
Top of the Premier League and going for an unprecedented quadruple that their manager doesn’t like to talk about, Manchester City come into this game on an astonishing run of 26 wins out of 27 games. Their opponents’ form is comparatively patchy: Dortmund have won just one of their past five games and are seven points behind Eintracht Frankfurt in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
However, in Erling Haaland they have arguably the world’s best striker and with him playing up front it would be foolish to write off their chances. Kick-off at the Etihad is at 8pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
