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Valverde took the free-kick, rifling it into the wall. It came back to Ceballos, who clipped a superb early pass over the top. Mbappe, who timed his run perfectly, tried an acrobatic volley from eight yards and made a Hackney Marshes mess of it: the ball hit him just below the knee and looped slowly, desperately into the far corner with Ederson wrongfooted.
Kylian Mbappe equalises with a complete miskick!
59 min Camavinga nicks the ball off Gvardiol and Real Madrid break. Ceballos is tripped 25 yards from goal by Bernardo Silva. This is a chance for Madrid…
57 min Brilliant defending from Gvardiol, who makes a perfectly judged lunging tackle on Mbappe just outside the area. Real come again and Vinicius tries to twist psat Lewis, who also makes a good challenge.
55 min: Fine save by Ederson! Madrid are having one of their spells. Rodrygo gets to the byline and cuts the ball back to Mbappe, whose snapshot is smartly saved at the near post by Ederson.
53 min: Chance for Bellingham! Vincius Jr has his first chance to run at Lewis. He gets to the byline and fires a cross back towards the unmarked Bellingham 10 yards out. Bellingham can’t control a header that drifts comfortably wide of the far post. It looked a tough chance, not least because Vinicius hammered the cross at him.
50 min I suspect both teams wouldn’t be too disappointed if it finished like this. The longer it stays at 1-0, the cagier it will become.
For now, City are on the front foot. Foden, who has looked sharp since coming on, cuts inside and finds Gvardiol, whose long-range shot spins behind for a corner.
48 min “Yes, lovely goal, and all that,” says Matt Dony. “But we don’t spend enough time slaughtering City for the font on the back of their shirts. Absolutely appalling. Fair to say, the worst thing Noel Gallagher has been involved with since Heathen Chemistry.”
Which brings us right back round to Stop Crying Your Heart Out.
46 min City almost double their lead after 35 seconds of the second half. De Bruyne, on the right, poked a clever pass into the area towards Haaland. He worked just enough space for a shot from the edge of the area that took a big deflection and hit the face of the crossbar. Courtois wouldn’t have saved it.
46 min Madrid begin the second half.
Another injury for City Rico Lewis is coming on to replace Manuel Akanji, who needed treatment just before half-time and is unable to continue.
“Late in the first half Erling Haaland ran into Clement Turpin and the Norwegian went flying while the referee didn’t budge,” writes Kári Tulinius. “The Frenchman must be made of granite and heft.”
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Half-time reading
That’s the end of an engrossing first half of the Etihad. It wasn’t quite the slugfest some of us hoped for, but it was compelling throughout. Madrid’s Fab Four opened City up with alarming ease early on, when Ederson saved from Mbappe and Ake cleared off the line from Mendy.
City lived to tell the tale of a lovely team goal, finished off superbly by Haaland after excellent work from Grealish (who later went off injured) and Gvardiol.
45+4 min: Big chance for Mbappe! Rodrygo wanders infield from the right and nutmegs a City defender with a terrific pass that finds Mbappe in space on the left side of the area. He takes a touch and whacks a shot just over the bar with his right foot. He really should have done better.
45+2 min Four minutes of added time. Mbappe’s low shot from 20 yards takes a big deflection off Ake and spins not far wide.
45 min Madrid are starting to stir. Vinicius runs at Akanji and drives an inviting low ball that rolls right across the six-yard box. Mbappe was nowhere to be seen.
If Real Madrid had Micky Quinn up front rather than Kylian Mbappe, they’d be level.
44 min Bellingham, who is on a yellow card, commits a tactical foul on Savinho near the halfway line. Some referees would have booked him for that.
43 min Real Madrid regain possession. Eventually Valverde moves infield and whips a fine shot from 22 yards that flashes just over the bar. Ederson had it covered, and in fact he may have got a slight touch; Valverde certainly thought so.
42 min A loose touch from Ake allows Rodrygo to nick the ball and move towards the City area. He overhits a fairly straightforward pass to Vinicius Jr, who retrieves the ball near the byline and eventually wins a corner. Haaland heads it away at the near post.
39 min Since that flurry of chances just after the 10th minute, City have been relatively comfortable at the back. I know Vinicius Jr. hit the bar but that was from a speculative (and deflected) shot.
37 min: Akanji hits the bar! De Bruyne clips another teasing near-post corner that is helped on and onto the top of the crossbar by Akanji. Good effort, though I suspect Courtois had it covered.
Manuel Akanji heads a corner against the bar! Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
36 min It’s all City now. Gvardiol wins the ball in a dangerous area, then Savinho and Bernardo Silva combine to find Haaland on the left side of the area. His shot, which might have been going wide of the far post, deflects behind off the sliding Asensio.
35 min Foden releases the overlapping De Bruyne, whose low cross is cut out at the near post by Asensio. This is comfortably City’s best spell of the game.
Foden cuts inside from the right and batters a rising drive from 22 yards. Courtois leaps a little dramatically to his right to punch it away. Still a good save mind.
33 min This is a pretty good spell for City, who have controlled the tempo for the last five minutes or so. Next goal’s a big goal!
31 min Foden has gone to the right wing with Savinho moving to the left.
30 min: Man City substitution Phil Foden replaces Jack Grealish, who walks straight to the dressing-room. That’s such awful luck for a player who has waited all season for a night like this.
A sad sight to see. Photograph: Dave Thompson/AP
29 min City’s most dangerous attacker, Jack Grealish, is on his haunches and needs treatment. Phil Foden is getting ready to replace him.
28 min Dani Ceballos shoots optimistically and inaccurately from 25 yards. The attack started with a long diagonal pass out to Vinicius Jr, who has been Madrid’s most dangerous attacker.
26 min Madrid take the corner short to Rodrygo, who nutmegs De Bruyne and has a shot blocked. It’s as open as we expected/hoped.
25 min: Vinicius hits the bar! Vinicius Jr cuts inside from the left, looks for a pass and then curls a surprise shot that deflects off Akanji and onto the top of the crossbar.
Ederson stretches to reach Vinicius Jnr’s shot. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
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