Man City Edge Real Madrid in Seven-goal Thriller

Manchester City won a seven-goal thriller against Manchester City 4-3 in a stone-cold classic last night, in what was the first leg of the pair’s Champions League semi-final tie. 

City were irresistible going forward throughout and raced into a 2-0 lead. However, despite their best efforts Real kept on pegging them back and Los Blancos will welcome the Premier League champions to the Santiago Bernabeu next week just one goal down on aggregate. 

Scarcely a minute after the boos for the UEFA anthem had subsided, City had the ball in the back of the net. Mahrez was the architect, dancing through a spate of white shirts before floating a cross for De Bruyne to crash home with his head. 

It did not take long for City to make it 2-0. This time, De Bruyne turned creator, whipping a ball into the box and after a slice of good fortune, Gabriel Jesus was presented with a gilt-edged chance that he converted to send his side into dreamland. 

Real then survived another scare when Phil Foden’s cut-back was not turned in, before they finally progressed into the City box with Vinicius Junior’s deflected effort flying well wide. 

Just before the half-hour mark the hosts breached Los Blancos’ backline once again, but instead of squaring to an unmarked Phil Foden, Mahrez blasted into the side-netting. Seconds later, Foden was slipped through and struck a low shot narrowly wide. 

The excitement kept on coming in the first half, with David Alaba drawing gasps from the Etihad crowd when he flicked a header just past the post. And then came the inevitable: a Benzema goal in the Champions League. 

Ferland Mendy’s cross left Real’s talisman with a lot to do – not that that fazed the Frenchman. He produced an exquisite finish to stun the home fans into silence, diverting the ball into the bottom corner. 

The second half almost began in the same dramatic fashion as the first, with Mahrez smashing the post and Foden seeing his goal-bound shot on the rebound blocked on the line within a few minutes of the restart. 

It did not take long for City to make amends for this spurned chance, though. Soon after, Foden helped himself to a rare headed goal, ghosting in at the back post to convert Fernandinho’s cross. 

However, as quick as a flash Real cut the deficit back down to two. Vinicius Junior bamboozled Fernandinho with a clever feint and left his veteran compatriot in the dust, motoring into the area and rolling the ball past Ederson. 

Things mercifully quietened down for a short while before Aymeric Laporte almost became an unlikely hero, meeting Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross well to force a save out of Thibaut Courtois. 

16 minutes from time, Bernardo Silva restored City’s two-goal advantage, capitalising on a well-played advantage from referee Istvan Kovacs to slam home a thunderous left-footed drive which left Courtois rooted to the spot. 

Real were then awarded a penalty after Laporte handled in the box. Up stepped Benzema, who showed balls of steel to Panenka past Ederson in his own backyard, making it 4-3 in the process.