Jesus, Bruyne give Man City win in first leg

Manchester City came from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Spain on Wednesday in the first leg of its Champions League round of 16 tie.

Los Blancos had gone up 1-0 on the hour-mark thanks to Isco, but two goals in six minutes late in the second half for City turned the tie around with Real doing further damage with Sergio Ramos receiving a late red card. Kevin De Bruyne turned it on in the final 20 minutes by taking over, setting up Gabriel Jesus' equalizer in the 78th minute before Ramos was sent off and then scoring the winner from the penalty marker.

The loss was Real's first at home against an English club in 11 years and sees Pep Guardiola's side nearly into the quarterfinals on the same day it officially appealed its two-year European ban. Real Madrid now needs to score at least two without conceding if it wants to advance, which will be a tall task with Eden Hazard out for months with an ankle injury.

In the Santiago Bernabeu, neither scored in the first half but just when it felt like City was close, Real bounced on the mistakes with Isco scoring this goal in the 60th minute.

The lead lasted just 18 minutes as Guardiola brought on Raheem Sterling, who got De Bruyne the ball in space before he made a move and set up Jesus for this header inside the box.

Real argued that Jesus pushed Sergio Ramos in the back and that the goal shouldn't stand, but it was confirmed as a goal moments later to give City a vital away goal.

They weren't done there. Just six minutes later, Sterling again made his mark, winning a penalty kick after being taken down in the box by Dani Carvajal. De Bruyne beat his Belgium national team goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to secure the 2-1 victory.

Real finished with just three shots on goal in this one and faces an uphill battle at the Etihad for the return leg on March 17.

Source: Agencies

 

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