On a night of stunning goals, City holds Real 1-1

MADRID: On a night of glorious goals in the Spanish capital, Kevin De Bruyne netted a stunning equaliser with a rasping low strike to hand Manchester City a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

The City midfielder powered home from distance in the 67th minute after Vinicius Jr. (36th) had opened the scoring for the host in the first half with an equally sumptuous strike. City dominated the match in the early stages, but it was Real which took the lead.

Vinicius came up with a brilliant curling effort from the edge of the area, which flew into the top-right corner with Real’s first shot on target. The reigning champion got back on top in the second half and took control, but City equalised after it won possession high up the pitch. The visitor worked the ball to De Bruyne, who drilled the ball in with the outside of his boot to leave the tie poised ahead of Wednesday’s second leg.

It was a frantic encounter at a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu, with the home fans spending the first half hour of the match on the edge of their seats as City started strongly. Real struggled with City’s relentless pressure as the touring team dominated the proceedings early and maintained control.

Pep Guardiola’s team enjoyed a staggering 75 per cent ball possession for a large part of the first half and by the halfway point of the opening period, City had recorded six attempts, with four on target, compared to none from Real. But, the host slowly started to get a foothold in midfield and began to test City on the counter-attack. Vinicius moved to a more central position, lurked markers away from the touchline and created space for left-back Eduardo Camavinga.

After Camavinga and Vinicius combined to create two half-chances, they nailed a textbook counter-attack. Camavinga burst down the left touchline and passed to Vinicius, who let fly with a missile from outside the area.

Real was on top at the start of the second half and almost scored early on when Karim Benzema fired wide. The France striker seemed off the pace, making uncharacteristic errors and misfiring with several attempts on goal.

It was after a poor pass from Benzema that City stopped another Real counter and De Bruyne netted the equaliser. City goalkeeper Ederson made two critical saves to keep the score level ahead of next week’s return encounter.

Commenting on the match, Real midfielder Luka Modric told Movistar Plus: “The tie remains open… we played a good game. It (City) had possession early, yes, but no real chances… Too bad about the goal, we had more chances than it had.”

RESULT: Semi-finals: First leg: Real Madrid 1 (Vinicius 36) drew with Manchester City 1 (De Bruyne 67)