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MANCHESTER. – Erling Haaland’s magnificent strike capped a dramatic Manchester City comeback and condemned former club Borussia Dortmund to a painful Champions League defeat at Etihad Stadium last night.
City struggled against a composed Dortmund, who took the lead when the outstanding Jude Bellingham glanced home Marco Reus’ cross after 56 minutes.
Pep Guardiola’s side toiled in search of inspiration and found the equaliser with 10 minutes left when defender John Stones fired a powerful shot past Dortmund keeper Alexander Meyer.
Inevitably, it was left to Haaland to produce a truly special moment four minutes later, showing outstanding athleticism to soar through the air and score from Joao Cancelo’s cross.
Haaland had been kept relatively quiet by his former Dortmund team-mates but this special striker still made the defining, spectacular contribution as City came from behind to win.
The young Norwegian was on the margins of the game, but had posted a warning with a shot that struck the outside of the post minutes before scoring.
Stones’ equaliser, struck with plenty of force but met with little obstruction from the strangely static keeper Meyer, shifted the emphasis of a game in which Dortmund’s calm defence, marshalled by the veteran Mats Hummels and with Bellingham pulling the strings in midfield, left City frustrated.
City suddenly sensed a winner but it was still something special when Haaland took off into the air to meet Cancelo’s cross with his outstretched left foot to divert the ball past a disbelieving Meyer.
It brought a broad smile to the face of his father, former City midfield man Alf-Inge, watching in the stands. He re-enacted the moment but, understandably, without his son’s elasticity and elegance.
Haaland’s goal was his 13th of the season and his 26th in 21 Champions League games. City’s fans rejoiced as this was exactly the sort of moment the 22-year-old was signed for, to decide big Champions League games that looked to be getting away from them.
It means City now have a maximum return from two games and a striker every team in the competition will fear.
Meanwhile, Graham Potter began his Chelsea reign with a draw against RB Salzburg, leaving his side with an uphill task to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.
In his first game as manager, the former Brighton boss picked Raheem Sterling as an advanced wing-back but saw the gamble pay off when the forward curled into the bottom corner shortly after the break.
It was a much-improved performance from Chelsea’s defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Group E game last week, which spelled the end for former manager Thomas Tuchel.
But Matthias Jaissle’s well-drilled Austrian side got an equaliser on 75 minutes when Thiago Silva missed a tackle, allowing Noah Okafor to clip in Junior Adamu’s low cross.
That goal highlighted the risks involved in Potter’s positive approach, with Sterling and Marc Cucurella caught out of position. But the hosts could have earned victory when Reece James fired over from a free-kick and substitute Hakim Ziyech almost headed in at the back post.
Following AC Milan’s earlier 3-1 win over Zagreb, Chelsea sit bottom of Group E after two games with the Serie A champions up next at Stamford Bridge on October 5.
Potter was appointed six days ago, and following a week which he called a “whirlwind” got his first taste of Champions League football, having never seen the competition before in the flesh.
There have been questions about his credentials, having managed for only three years in the Premier League with Brighton. And although it was a positive display from his side and they wasted several good chances late on with Armando Broja also firing over, he will now realise he has to quickly turn things around in Europe after Chelsea’s poor start to the season.
The 47-year-old, who watched in a black suit as Stamford Bridge observed impeccably a minute’s silence to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, quickly established his own stamp on the team by dropping Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Ben Chilwell from the side that lost at Dinamo Zagreb last week.
That saw Silva and Cucurella make up a back three with Cesar Azpilicueta, but the biggest surprise was seeing Sterling at left wing-back in a 3-4-3 formation.
That may have been too simplistic, though, as the forward was stationed way up the pitch for the most part and twice wasted good chances at the back post in the first half.
The closest the two teams came to opening the scoring before the break came within a minute of each other. Mason Mount sliced a shot inches wide of the post after another deep run and cross from Cucurella, before Benjamin Sesko had a curling effort tipped around the post by Kepa Arrizabalaga after Sterling gave the ball away.
But the England international made up for that mistake and showed why he was positioned so far up the pitch three minutes after the break.
Reece James started the move on the right flank with a powerful run and fed Mount, whose low cross was miscontrolled by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Fortunately, Sterling took a measured touch before finding the inside of the post for this fourth of the season.
At that stage Chelsea began to control the game and looked like they would add to their lead.
However, the desire to play in Salzburg’s half backfired when both Sterling and Cucurella were dispossessed near the halfway line, leading to the equaliser. – Mailonline.
Online Reporter