City defied almost all expectations on Tuesday night as they boosted their chances of qualifying for this year’s Champions League knockout stages with a dramatic late 3-2 win over Bayern Munich at the Etihad. The win leaves City 4th in group E after five games, but on equal points with CSKA Moscow and Roma, who occupy the two places above.
Despite initial worries on Monday after Agüero and Jovetić both missed training, Agüero was passed fit enough to be included from the off, whilst Jovetić started on the bench. Bacary Sagna also came in for Pablo Zabaleta, and James Milner was reinstated to the side, as was Eliaquim Mangala, in for Martin Demichelis.
After numerous reports and expectations that Bayern were to field a weakened side in this game, which they did to a degree, it just shows the strength in depth of the Bayern squad.
The actual match began in a very mixed fashion, with City enjoying some luck down their right-hand side with Navas and Sagna. This came after another round of booing for the Champions League anthem, from City fans after a few contentious incidents in this year’s edition of the competition.
On 22 minutes, The Blues swung the balance of the game in their favour, when Lampard played the ball over the top for Agüero, who ran with it before being brought down by Mehdi Benatia in the box. Benatia was sent off for being the last man, and Sergio won a penalty to put his side in front. Manuel Neuer guessed the direction, but Agüero put just enough power into it to take the ball into the very corner, past the diving hand of Neuer.
That goal shook the German side, which is probably something City needed to capitalise on. Suddenly, Bayern didn’t look so sure of themselves on the ball and City were able to press much easier. However, City didn’t take advantage of the slip in concentration from their visitors and eventually they regained their composure and started knocking the ball around City’s midfield like they’d been doing before the game.
The equaliser, unexpected as it was, came on 40 minutes. Bayern won a free kick in the right channel, and ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid man Xabi Alonso stepped up to take it. He curled it low and around the wall, into the corner of the net almost as if he’d passed it. If someone had to be blamed for it, it’d probably be Hart who could – and probably should – have been covering that side of the net rather than hoping he’d be able to leave it. Regardless, the free-kick showed what a player Bayern have in Alonso even at 33.
Five minutes later, Robert Lewandowski made an already restless Etihad even more unsettled as he put the ten-man visitors in front moments before the break. A cross from deep found its way to Lewandowski, who’d run in between Kompany and Mangala, winning the header and looping it past Joe Hart in such a way that Neuer himself almost certainly wouldn’t have saved it.
Given the man advantage, going behind from a leading position will have come as a shock to the system, but it didn’t seem to spur The Blues on much going into the second half. Bayern came back out and did what Guardiola’s teams do best: keep the ball themselves, and pressure high up the field when without it. That snuffed out most of the City threat and won Robben and Ribéry some chances when stray balls were picked up by the German team.
Eventually though, the changes made by Manuel Pellegrini started to pay off. He brought Stevan Jovetić and Pablo Zabaleta on to provide some much-needed attacking danger, and Jovetić set the game up for a grandstand finale when he put Agüero through on 85 minutes. The Montenegrin intercepted a bad pass on the halfway line, giving it to Agüero to run through on goal; he slotted low past Neuer, with the ball going in off the post to give City some hope.
With that goal in hand, City started to increase the pressure on their German visitors. Navas and Zabaleta worked hard down the right, as did Nasri and Clichy on the left. However, the third and final goal was only ever going to come from one man: Sergio Agüero. Vincent Kompany sent a long ball forward, and after it was headed on, Agüero took the ball off of Jerome Boateng, the man who scored the winner in Munich two months ago, to go through on goal with three players closing in, before calmly sidefooting the ball past Manuel Neuer.
City now look forward to the trip to Italy in a fortnight. It’ll be tough, but this win could give some newfound confidence that might spur us on in all three remaining competitions. Whilst the result of Bayern v CSKA in the final game also matters, many will feel a Bayern win is almost inevitable, and for once it looks like City have their fate in their own hands for the first time in a while. And boy, doesn’t it feel great?
