February 23, (THEWILL) – Manchester City and RB Leipzig played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie in Germany.
Riyad Mahrez scored his 20th UCL goal to give City a deserved lead midway through the first half, but Leipzig came back in the second half, with Josko Gvardiol scoring a well-directed header. Despite dominating possession from the start, City struggled to create many chances due to Leipzig’s defensive discipline.
Leipzig failed to do much of anything with the ball in the first half, but whatever Marco Rose said to them during the break seemed to light a fire under them. They came out for the second half with much more intensity and pressure and soon had City worried. Benjamin Henrichs had a glorious opportunity to score for Leipzig but failed to hit the target. Despite an impressive save from Janis Blaswich to push Ilkay Gundogan’s low drive to safety, there were few opportunities in the closing stages.
The English visitors will likely feel aggrieved that they were not given a last-minute penalty when Henrichs appeared to handle the ball in the box, although it was unclear if there was a VAR check. The two teams will meet again on March 10 for the second leg of the tie.
City will now return to English Premier League action at Bournemouth on Saturday, while Leipzig host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
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