Pep Guardiola’s City side stunned as Josko Gvardiol secures RB Leipzig draw amid penalty controversy

RB Leipzig held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie thanks to Josko Gvardiol’s powerful header.

Pep Guardiola’s side dominated the first half, but the Germans came alive after the break and deservedly avoided defeat at the Red Bull Arena, though City arguably should have been awarded a penalty for handball from Benjamin Hendrichs in the game’s final moments before the whistle.

City had scored an average of 2.6 goals per game in their previous 17 games against Bundesliga clubs, but could only manage one through Riyad Mahrez.

As a result, when the teams meet for the second leg at the Etihad on March 14, everything is on the line.

City dominated possession early on with some impressive passing, and Mahrez opened the scoring on 27 minutes, rewarding the away side for their pressing.

Following a sloppy pass from Xaver Schlager, Jack Grealish nicked the ball, and after a flick from Ilkay Gundogan, Mahrez unleashed a strong strike past Blaswich for the lead.

After Rodri headed the ball back across the six-yard box following a corner, Erling Haaland almost doubled City’s lead but missed a tap-in opportunity.

Before halftime, City had three more chances, with Grealish cutting inside and shooting wide, Rodri failing to get a header on target from a corner, and a Leipzig block denying Halaand another tap-in from Gundogan’s low ball from the left.

Just before the whistle, the Germans had their first shot of the game, but former Chelsea striker Timo Werner could only curl his shot straight at City goalkeeper Ederson.

Leipzig vastly improved and had two huge chances to equalise in the first 10 minutes, both through right-back Henrichs, who fired a header just over the crossbar from 15 yards out and then had plenty of space with only Ederson to beat but his shot from 12 yards dragged wide.

Ederson was then forced to dive out and push Werner’s low cross away before Leipzig had another chance just after the hour mark when the City goalkeeper denied Andre Silva after the Portugal international skillfully got past two defenders down the left as Guardiola became visibly frustrated on the touchline.

On 70 minutes, Leipzig deservedly equalised after Ederson’s save from a brilliant Dominik Szoboszlai 30-yard shot resulted in a corner, and defender Gvardiol – linked with a move to the Premier League – rose above Dias to fire his header past the Brazilian ‘keeper.

With 15 minutes remaining, City had a chance to win it, but Blaswich made a huge save to deny Gundogan’s effort as Haaland was unable to bundle home the rebound – and Guardiola’s side were then denied a late penalty for a handball by Hendrichs – as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the other Champions League match on Wednesday night, Inter Milan defeated Porto 1-0 thanks to an 86th-minute goal from Romelu Lukaku.