Leipzig threat remains for City, Lukaku comes good

Leipzig, February 23

Josko Gvardiol stifled the threat of Manchester City star Erling Haaland before scoring himself to earn Leipzig a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Round of 16 match-up in the Champions League.

The Croatia centre-back, nicknamed “Little Pep” because of the similarities of his last name with that of City manager Pep Guardiola, headed home the equaliser in the 70th minute on Wednesday after Leipzig finally got to grips with the English champions.

City dominated the first half without Haaland, their top scorer, getting a sight on goal and Riyad Mahrez netted the 27th-minute opener after Ilkay Gundogan flicked through a pass from Jack Grealish.

As Haaland grew frustrated in the second half, City lost control of the game and Leipzig posed more of a threat, creating the better of the chances.

“What do you expect, that we are playing a friendly game here?” Guardiola said, when asked why his team was unable to retain its domination into the second half. “How many games have you seen from Leipzig? You expect us to come here and win 0-5? That is not a reality.”

It leaves the match in the balance heading into the second leg in Manchester on March 14 as City continue their bid for a first Champions League title.

Lukaku leaves it late

Milan: Romelu Lukaku is back. After ending his goalscoring drought last weekend, Lukaku scored late to fire Inter Milan to a 1-0 win over 10-man Porto on Wednesday.

Those were Lukaku’s first goals since October and took his tally to just four since returning from Chelsea in the off-season as the Belgium forward has struggled with injury and poor form.

“We’re really happy with the win, it was too important to get a result,” said Lukaku, who came on as a substitute. — AP