Madness in Manchester as 7-goal instant classic starts off UCL semi-finals
Manchester City hosted Real Madrid in this highly anticipated European powerhouse head-to-head. Both teams had to make changes in the lineup due to injury issues. Manchester City lined up with John Stones in right back as Kyle Walker is still recovering from an ankle injury. Real Madrid is missing Casemiro due to injury, forcing Carlos Ancelotti to push Toni Kroos back into defensive midfield.
The lack of Casemiro’s presence in Real Madrid’s defense turned out to be detrimental as Kevin De Brunye scored the fastest Union of European Football Associations, Champions League semi-final goal in history just after 93 seconds to give City the advantage. Things went from bad to worse soon after as David Alaba’s defensive mistake allowed Gabriel Jesus to have an easy goal to double City’s lead just after 11 minutes. Manchester City’s opportunities kept coming but Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden weren’t able to materialize. Madrid’s top scorer Benzema threw the Galácticos a lifeline as he scored a great goal to half City’s lead in the 33rd minute. Stones, who was playing in place of injured Walker, suffered a hamstring injury and was forced to be substituted for Fernandinho in the 36th minute. Both teams kept trading punches until officials blew the halftime whistle.
Things did not take long to heat up after halftime as Foden scored in the 53rd minute to give City a two-goal cushion again. Two minutes later, Vinicius took matters into his own hands by running from his own half with a brilliant nutmeg on Fernandinho to score for Madrid, once again closing down the goal deficit to one. Both teams kept on creating opportunities but the next goal came for City twenty minutes later. Manchester’s Zinchenko was fouled by Kroos at the edge of the box but the referee gave an advantage to City, allowing play to go on. City’s Bernardo Silva picked up the loose ball and dribbled into the box and released a thunderous shot to beat Madrid’s goalkeeper Courtois. Once again, Manchester City had a two-goal lead at the 74th minute.
Just one minute later, Mahrez missed another golden opportunity that would turn out to be crucial as Manchester City center back, Laporte, conceded a penalty just four minutes later. Kroos crossed the ball into the box from the right side, as Laporte tried to defend and the ball went off of his head, then his hand. His hand was in an unnatural position, so the referee gave the penalty. The player who stepped up for Madrid was none other than Benzema, who missed all three of his last penalty attempts until this one. He chipped the ball over City’s keeper Ederson for an audacious panenka penalty to score his 14th European goal this season.
The game ended with City barely edging over Madrid for a 4-3 win in the first leg of the semi-finals. With Kyle Walker and Casemiro’s potential return from injury. The second leg of the competition is still all to play for as Real Madrid hosts Manchester City at Bernabéu. If this first leg is a sign of more to come, soccer fans definitely would not want to miss the second leg of this clash next week.
