GERMANY: Manchester City defeated Bayern Munich 4-1 on the road, with Erling Haaland scoring his 48th goal of the year to advance to the Champions League semifinals. With a 3-0 advantage from the first leg, City withstood an early storm in Germany before Haaland’s goal in the 57th minute secured their place in the semifinals for a third consecutive season.
Pep Guardiola’s team won despite Joshua Kimmich’s late penalty kick, tying the score at one. The Norwegian could have opened the scoring had he not missed a first-half penalty.
City has a solid chance to win the Champions League for the first time, but it must first defeat Real Madrid, who beat Chelsea 4-0 in their quarterfinal match. They are aware of the difficulty of the task, having been eliminated in the semifinal round last year after losing to one of the greatest comebacks in European history.
Bayern, however, was never going to pull off a stunning comeback against City, and they’re already out of the quarterfinals for the third straight year. Bayern made it apparent that last week’s defeat at the Etihad had hurt them, and they were determined to lose bravely. They got the game going confidently and then took it to City by utilising the enthusiasm of the loud crowd.
The visitors avoided a larger scare when former City winger Leroy Sane raced through on goal, but his last pass was poor. Dayot Upamecano was given a red card for tripping Haaland at the opposite end, but the judgement was reversed after a flag was raised.
Then, upon handling an Ilkay Gundogan shot in the box, the Bayern defender conceded a penalty. However, Haaland blasted over as the home team tried to stop the penalty kick.
Bayern had lost hope but came out hard to complete the first half. Coman shot at Ederson, Sane missed a long-range shot, and Cancelo and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting were turned away from close range. After the break, Haaland had another chance, but his shot was directed at Yann Sommer.
Kevin De Bruyne led a push to expose the Bayern defensive, leading to the 22-year-old Belgian slipping into Haaland and finishing forcefully to become the player with the most Champions League goals at 35, at just his age. The German team came closer when a Coman effort evaded Ederson’s hands and bounced across the goal.
Thomas Tuchel, the manager of Bayern Munich, was given a red card for letting his annoyance get the better of him and had to watch the final few minutes from the stands. Manuel Akanji was given a hard penalty for handball after Mathys Tel had a goal disallowed for offside. Kimmich then converted the penalty kick.
Pep Guardiola’s primary concern from an otherwise successful night will be the severity of a possible hamstring injury to defender Nathan Ake, who was forced to be replaced in the second half.
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