Manchester City edge Leipzig, Dortmund share spoils with Milan in UEFA Champions League group stage

Berlin: Julian Alvarez’s stellar goal and assist propelled Manchester City to a 3-1 victory on the road against Leipzig, while Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan settled for a goalless draw in the second round of the group stage.

The Citizens got off to a strong start, coming close in the opening stages when Phil Foden shot wide from a tight angle, followed by Bernardo Silva’s attempt from a promising position getting blocked, reports Xinhua.

Foden continuously threatened Leipzig’s area, with his shot narrowly missing the target before scoring the opener in the 25th minute, capitalizing on Rico Lewis’ good build up work.

Leipzig struggled to penetrate City’s well-positioned defense, while the visitors missed opportunities to widen the lead as Foden squandered another chance and Erling Haaland couldn’t overcome goalkeeper Janis Blaswich from inside the box before half-time.

The Bulls enjoyed a dream start to the second half, with Yussuf Poulsen’s through ball enabling Lois Openda to level the scores after beating Manchester keeper Ederson with a well-placed shot into the inside of the left post.

Foden came close to bagging his brace at the hour mark, but Blaswich deflected the free kick to the woodwork.

The visitors eventually regained their lead with 84 minutes played when substitute Alvarez found ample space at the edge of the box to lift the ball over Blaswich into the top right corner.

City continued their scoring spree and secured the result in the dying minutes of the game as substitute Jeremy Doku capitalized on Alvarez’s counterattack to round off the 3-1 away victory.

With the result, Manchester City remains atop the table in Group G after securing their second consecutive win. Leipzig drops to the second spot after suffering its first loss.

Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund earned its first point in Europa after playing out a goalless stalemate with AC Milan. The BVB remain at the bottom while Milan slipped to the third position in Group F.

–IANS