Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3 in the first leg 

    Manchester City and Real Madrid squared off in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final at the Etihad on April 27, 2022. Pep Guardiola's side took an early 2-0 lead, thanks to Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus

    Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final, First Leg, at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester Image credit: SALive Image Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final, First Leg, at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester

    Guardiola placed John Stones at right-back, but his injury injured before half-time invited Fernandinho on the field. Karim Benzema closed the deficit to 2-1, but Phil Foden restored the two-goal lead before Vinicius Junior converted through a counter-attack as the score read 3-2.

    Bernardo Silva struck home and provided City with a 4-2 lead. They were the dominating side which should have earned them a win by a more significant margin. However, Benzema's panenka penalty goal made it 4-3 right before the match ended as the two teams are in contention for next week's second leg in Bernabeu. 

    The Last Minute Penalty Saved Madrid

    The penalty turned out to be an unforeseen occurrence in a game that belonged to Guardiola's team. The interim boss talked to BT Sport about his take on Los Blancos' third goal of the night: "It is what it is. We were out of the Champions League vs Tottenham when it hit Llorente's hand today hit his hand. This competition is about details. All we can do is perform. after the opponents are so good. Real Madrid punishes you. I cannot ask anything else about what we have done with and without the ball. I say to players, rest, Leeds is the most important thing, after we go to Madrid to win.

    On the other hand, Madrid's manager Carlo Ancelotti said, "As a supporter of football, it was a fantastic game, but as a manager of Madrid, we scored three important goals but didn't defend so well, we could have defended better. We conceded two goals so early. We were able to react, we did well to keep the game open. We have a great dream to play the second game in the Bernabeu. We hope we can have chance to go to the final."

     

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