Andre Silva shines as RB Leipzig beats Manchester City 2-1

RB Leipzig struck in each half to beat already-qualified Manchester City 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Published : Dec 08, 2021 07:07 IST

Leipzig's Andre Silva, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Group A Champion's League match between RB Leipzig and Manchester City at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.

RB Leipzig struck in each half to beat already-qualified Manchester City 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday, booking a spot in the Europa League and snapping the English club's 14-game unbeaten run against German teams in the competition.

With interim coach Achim Beierlorzer on the bench after the sacking of Jesse Marsch on Sunday, Leipzig secured the third spot in Group A on the final matchday ahead of Club Brugge, which lost 4-1 at second-placed Paris St Germain.

Leipzig finished with seven points, three ahead of bottom side Brugge. City came top with 12 points, a point ahead of PSG.

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City, with seven changes to the team that beat Watford in the Premier League at the weekend, defended high but Dominik Szoboszlai managed to break clear and latch onto a Konrad Laimer ball to round goalkeeper Zack Steffen in the 24th minute.

The host, playing without any fans because of COVID-19 restrictions, came close to a second, but first, Emil Forsberg's shot was blocked by Steffen, and a little later, the City keeper made a reflex save to deny Andre Silva from point-blank range.

His Leipzig counterpart Peter Gulacsi responded with a superb save of his own in the 40th, getting his fingers to a Phil Foden shot to direct it onto the post.

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City looked livelier after the break, but Leipzig scored against the run of play with Silva's well-placed shot in the 71st after City clumsily lost possession in its half.

The visitor did respond six minutes later with Riyad Mahrez's diving header for his fifth goal in six Champions League games, but its comeback was short-lived with Kyle Walker being shown a red card for kicking Silva from behind.

The sending off means City's England defender faces a ban when the side resumes its Champions League campaign in February.

Guardiola on Walker red card

"Kyle Walker is an important player for us and it is unnecessary to lose him like this," Guardiola said. "I hope he learns from this. The red card hurts us, especially for the round of 16.

"It's a red card, definitely. I'm not coming here to say what happened in the dressing room."