Erling Haaland had the last laugh as Man City saw off Bayern Munich to book a Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid.
Guardiola’s side romped to a 3-0 mauling in the first leg last Tuesday and Bayern needed miracles to advance. Thomas Tuchel’s men got off to a positive start. They began with a suitable amount of attacking intent and had the upper hand throughout the opening exchanges.
Particularly terrorising City left-back Nathan Ake through Kinsley Coman’s brilliance, Tuchel would have been pleased with how his side approached things. This was until Sane missed a one-on-one chance which looked certain to slot past Ederson. Bayern failed to take their chances while defender Dayot Upamecano had a nightmare at the other end.
Having survived the scare, City looked to punish Bayern with an attack of their own. Kevin De Bruyne slid through Erling Haaland shortly after Sane’s miss, the Allianz Arena held its breath. French centre-back Dayot Upamecano was chasing the Norwegian striker. This resulted to tumbling with a wayward leg, leaving referee Clement Turpin with only one option: to send him off.
Fortunately for Upamecano, however, VAR deemed that Haaland was marginally offside when De Bruyne’s pass came through and the red card was rescinded. Tuchel was furiously protesting on the touchline. Despite getting the outcome he wanted with the offside call, he was booked for his protests.
In the 35th minute, Ilkay Gundogan’s shot hit the arm of flailing Upamecano. Turpin pointed to the spot and most inside the Allianz Arena were silenced. After Bayern saw their appeals waved away and Upamecano was shown a yellow card, this time for good, their players decided to employ some dark arts as Haaland waited to shoot. Putting the 47-goal marksman off with a series of actions to delay his kick, Haaland evidently felt the pressure and remarkably blazed his effort over bar.
His shellshocked face came on the big screen shortly after, with the home crowd cheering in unison. They were still 3-0 down.
Of all the star players on the pitch, the game could be distilled to one battle – Haaland versus Upamecano. Their duel had thickened throughout the first period. It hit a flashpoint 12 minutes into the second half, ending the contest. As Bayern once again probed the City back line, Ederson was into a spectacular save which sparked a counter attack.
Picking up the rebound like it was table football, John Stones ired a pass up to De Bruyne. The Belgium dully found Haaland racing through, desperate to make amends for his penalty miss. He squared up Upamecano and before the France international knew it, he was on the deck and the ball in the back of the net.
His slip allowed Haaland to find space in the penalty area, unleashing an unstoppable shot past Yann Sommer to kill any hopes that the German giants had. Shushing the crowd, Haaland wheeled away in celebration. He racked up goal number 48 and booked a mouthwatering semi-final clash with Real Madrid.