City held to draw in dramatic Champions League clash with Feyenoord

Erling Haaland struck twice, his first making him the fastest player to 50 goal involvements in Champions League history when he scored from the penalty spot just before the break in just his 44th appearance in the competition.

They came either side of Ilkay Gundogan’s volley for his first goal back at the Etihad Stadium since returning in the summer.

But the Dutch side scored three times in the final 15 minutes through Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko to grab a point.

WHAT HAPPENED

After having 23 attempts on goal against Tottenham without finding the net, we were short of luck again in the opening moments against Feyenoord.

City looked dangerous with Bernardo Silva, captaining the side, playing in a very wide position on the right and linking up neatly with Matheus Nunes and Phil Foden.

Inside the opening minutes, Bernardo pulled back a low cross that Gundogan whipped goalwards but was deflected wide.

Haaland was then inches away in the 10th minute with a header that hit the inside of the post and bounced on to the hand of sprawling goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther as he scrambled to make a save.

Moments later, Jack Grealish coming back into the side for his first game since early October after injury, hit a sweet volley that was goalbound until the ball struck Foden to divert it over the bar.

Foden went close himself with a neat turn and strike from the edge of the box that was clawed away by Wellenreuther at full stretch.

Feyenoord had won both of their away games in the Champions League before arriving at the Etihad Stadium, winning 3-2 at Girona and 3-1 at Benfica and were trying to threaten on the break.

But they didn’t have a meaningful shot until after the half-hour when Igor Paixao found space, but his curling effort was comfortably collected by Ederson.

From the sideline, Pep Guardiola urged his side to stay calm and keep our patience.

And before the break, we got our break when Haaland was caught from behind in the box and referee Radu Petrescu instantly pointed to the spot.

Haaland had to be patient again as goalkeeper Wellenreuther took an impromptu tour of the Etihad before getting ready, but the mind games didn’t distract the striker who slammed home the spot-kick.

Four minutes after the break, City doubled our lead when a Foden corner was cleared to Gundogan whose well-struck first-time volley was deflected into the net.

And it was three in the 53rd minute when Nunes broke quickly and drove a cross perfectly into the path of Haaland to slide home.

City continued to pour forward with Josko Gvardiol testing Wellenreuther with a volley.

Gundogan, Nathan Ake and Foden were replaced midway through the second half, all earning a hug from Guardiola for their performances.  

But there was to be a twist in the tale with Hadj Moussa taking the ball around Ederson after a clumsy clearance from Gvardiol.

Gimenez then chested in from the goal line after Jordan Lotomba’s cross squeezed past Ederson as the visitors chased an unlikely equaliser.

And our Brazilian goalkeeper was then beaten to a throughball by Paixao to square a cross for Hancko to head home an equaliser.

City pushed to try to get a winner with Grealish striking the woodwork in injury time but we had to settle for a draw.

TEAMS

City: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Ake (McAtee 69), Gvardiol, Gundogan (De Bruyne 69), Bernardo, Nunes, Foden (Simpson-Pusey 69), Grealish, Haaland.

Subs not used: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Dias, Savinho, Wright, O’Reilly, Wilson-Esbrand

Feyenoord: Wellenreuther, Nieuwkoop (Lotomba 72), Trauner, Hancko, Smal (Beelen 68), In-Beom (Gonzalez 90+3), Timber, Milambo (Zerrouki 68), Paixao, Moussa, Carranza (Gimenez 72).

Subs not used: Bijlow, Ka, Ivanusec, Mitchell, Zechiel, Redmond

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Feyenoord fans bravely jeered Haaland when he gave away a free-kick right in front of the travelling fans at the Etihad.

But the Norwegian wasn’t kept quiet for long with a brace that took his tally to 17 in 18 games for City this season.

His first made him the fastest player to 50 goal involvements with 45 goals and five assists in just 44 matches.

By the time he left the pitch he was also the quickest to 51 goal involvements with a blistering turn of speed to make sure he was on the end of Nunes’ low pass.

AKE REACTION

“When you are three goals up it feels like a defeat when you give up three goals at home.

“It is tough now, a tough night, but the only thing we can do is look forward to the next one. Liverpool is a big game and it is another challenge to overcome.”

MANAGER REACTION

“The game was fine at 3-0, playing good, but then we concede a lot goals because we were not stable. We gave them the first and then the other one, that is why it was difficult.

“We lost a lot of games lately, we are fragile and of course we needed a victory, the game was good for the confidence. We were playing a good level but the first time something happened we had problems.

“I don’t know if it is mental. The first goal cannot happen and the second as well. After that we forget what happen, we were desperate to win and do well, we do well but don’t win games.”

WHAT IT MEANS

City are now 15th in the Champions League with eight points from our opening five matches. 

Teams finishing ninth to 16th will be seeded for a knockout game to reach the last-16 although there are more games to follow on Wednesday night. 

WHAT’S NEXT

It’s back to the Premier League on Sunday for a clash between the top two sides.

City travel to Liverpool aiming to cut their advantage when we meet at Anfield for the 16:00 (UK) kick-off.