A Kevin de Bruyne thunderbolt saved Manchester City from defeat in a fiery first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid which finished 1-1.
The Belgian star’s goal cancelled out Madrid flyer Vinicius Jr’s opener in the 34th minute as the two European heavyweights were locked in a fiery clash.
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The visitors largely dominated the possession and play against the defending champions, but it was Los Blancos’ Brazilian flyer who broke the deadlock in the 36th minute.
Madrid midfield duo Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga combined nicely on the left with the latter released into space on an overlapping run.
Camavinga then fed the ball to Vinicius Jr, who cut inside before unleashing an unstoppable right foot strike City goalkeeper Ederson couldn’t keep out.
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Vinicius Jr’s goal was Madrid’s only shot of the entire first half, while City had four efforts on target and six shots in total while also enjoying almost 70 per cent of possession.
But City finally broke the hosts’ resistance in the 67th minute when the ball fell to De Bruyne who was lurking just outside Madrid’s 18-yard box.
The Belgian midfield maestro then unleashed a rocket of a strike that Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had no chance of stopping.
Despite the dominance, the game threatened to turn into an ungly battle between the two as a series of niggling fouls from Madrid went largely unpunished.
City winger Jack Grealish copped mutliple fouls from Madrid defender Dani Carvajal, but the latter remarkably escaped any bookings in the first half.
There were also calls for Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos to be sent off for an awful challenge on Ilkay Gundogan, but he was instead given the game’s first booking.
