City led twice and were pegged back twice, then Haaland slid in at the back post. Leipzig had more shots, 14 to 12, but City's chances were worth more than twice as much: 2.20 xG to 0.87.
The numbers
| Manchester City | RB Leipzig | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 65% | 35% |
| Shots | 12 | 14 |
| Shots on target | 5 | 6 |
| xG | 2.2 | 0.87 |
| Touches in opp. box | 29 | 19 |
Result the chances deserved: Manchester City 68% / 19% / RB Leipzig 14% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, O'Reilly, Fernández, Anderson, Foden, Cherki, Ndiaye, Haaland.
RB Leipzig (4-3-3): Vandevoordt, Baku, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum, El Aynaoui, Baumgartner, Banzuzi, Gruda, Rômulo, Nusa.
Leipzig subs: Nkunku (57', Baumgartner), Gomis (67', Rômulo), Reitz (74', Nusa), Henrichs (74', Baku), Seiwald (74', El Aynaoui) (FotMob). Baumgartner made his first start since his injury; Baku came in for Henrichs (Bundesliga). Coach: Martín Demichelis, a former City defender.
Cards: Baumgartner (17'), Baku (33'), El Aynaoui (48'), Raum (77'), Khusanov, Doku (90+4') (FotMob, FOX Sports). A late Gruda goal was ruled out for offside (Bundesliga). Player of the match: Fernández (UEFA); FotMob and Flashscore rate Anderson highest. xG: FotMob 2.20–0.87 (FotMob's report rounds City's to 2.23).
Key moments, move by move
- O'Reilly wins a long ball on City's left (Bulinews).
- He cuts it back low into the six-yard area (FotMob, TSN).
- Lukeba turns it past Vandevoordt into his own net (TSN, Bulinews).
- Leipzig come out quickly after the break and work it down their right (Flashscore).
- Gruda finds Baku running into the right side of City's box (FotMob).
- Donnarumma comes off his line expecting a ball into the middle (Bulinews).
- Baku squeezes a low shot in at the near post from a tight angle (UEFA, TSN).
- Ndiaye gets the ball wide (FotMob lists him on the left).
- His delivery into the box is described as "inch-perfect" (Flashscore).
- Fernández heads it in from about ten yards (Bundesliga, UEFA).
- Gruda combines with Banzuzi on the edge of City's box (Bulinews).
- Substitute Nkunku, on for four minutes, picks out Nusa on the left side of the box (Bulinews, FotMob).
- Nusa drives a low shot across Donnarumma into the far bottom corner (TSN, Bundesliga).
- Vandevoordt has just saved from Haaland (Flashscore).
- Anderson runs down City's right (Bulinews).
- He sends a low ball across to the back post (TSN, Bulinews).
- Haaland slides in, unmarked, to finish into an almost empty net (FotMob, Bulinews).
Three City goals from balls across Leipzig's box, against a Leipzig side that kept shooting from range
- Leipzig started fast and kept coming. Nusa forced Donnarumma into a fumble and Raum, Baumgartner and Gruda all went close before City settled (TSN). After the break they "came flying out of the blocks" (Flashscore) and equalised twice. Demichelis: "I believe we produced our best performance without the ball" (FotMob).
- City scored from wide deliveries. O'Reilly's cut-back from the left, Ndiaye's cross and Anderson's low ball from the right all crossed the face of Leipzig's goal (FotMob, Bulinews). City had 65% of the ball and 29 touches in Leipzig's box to 19 (FotMob). Nunes made 108 passes, City's most in a Champions League game this season (Flashscore).
- Leipzig shot often, but from far out. Their 14 shots were worth 0.87 xG, about 0.06 a shot; City's 12 were worth 2.20 (FotMob). Baumgartner tried from distance twice and Raum hit the crossbar with a free-kick (Bulinews, TSN). Both Leipzig goals came from inside the box, and the first from a tight angle with Donnarumma off his line.
- City did not kill the game when ahead. Leipzig levelled four minutes after the restart and three minutes after City went back in front (FotMob). Haaland, who had 18 touches (FotMob): "I think we needed to go at it, go for the second goal and then the third" (FotMob). Maresca called the team "a work in progress" (AFP).
Tactical scenes
Leipzig kept shooting, but mostly from range. Nusa's powerful strike from the edge of the box in the 15th minute was saved. Baumgartner curled one wide from about 25 yards and, just after the restart, had another tipped round the post by Donnarumma. Late on Raum's free-kick hit the crossbar. Their two goals came from the rare moves that reached the box.
Evidence: Leipzig had 14 shots worth 0.87 xG, about 0.06 per shot, and 19 touches in City's box; City's 12 shots were worth 2.20 (FotMob). Leipzig had six shots on target to City's five (FotMob). FotMob match page · FotMob match report · Flashscore report
Recreate it in FM26
Manchester City · City's 4-2-3-1 and its balls across the six-yard box · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
City's 4-2-3-1 and its balls across the six-yard box
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Donnarumma | Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper |
| RB | Nunes | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Khusanov | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Guéhi | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | O'Reilly | Full-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RDM | Fernández | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Anderson | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Foden | Inside Forward | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Cherki | Advanced Playmaker | Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Ndiaye | Winger | Winger |
| ST | Haaland | Poacher | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- Attacking WidthWider
- Crossing StyleLow Crosses
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementMid Block
- Trigger PressLess Often
- Cross EngagementContest
The idea: A 4-2-3-1 whose goals come from the edge of the six-yard box: an overlapping Full-Back, a Winger who crosses and a Box-to-Box Midfielder who arrives, with a Poacher at the back post. You need a midfielder who can keep the ball after you score.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce an own goal from a cut-back or a keeper's misjudgement at the near post.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Doku on at 55' (for Foden), Gvardiol on at 61' (for O'Reilly). Keep the 4-2-3-1 and the wide deliveries, bring Doku on earlier for more balls across the box and Gvardiol on to steady the left side after Leipzig's first equaliser. It moves Manchester City's win chance from 68% to 72% (xG 2.20–0.87 becomes 2.25–0.72). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Manchester City needed
Joško Gvardiol
Leipzig's first equaliser came from Gruda and Baku down City's left. Gvardiol, who played for Leipzig for three seasons, defends that channel and still carries the ball forward.
Joshua Kimmich
City twice gave up a lead within minutes. A holding midfielder who slows the game and keeps the ball after a goal is the kind of control Haaland said City lacked.
What the analysts said
“On the ball, they are dangerous, especially with the two wingers, Gruda and Nusa.”Enzo Maresca (to DAZN, via Bulinews)
“It's not a concern... We are talking about a mistake.”Enzo Maresca on Donnarumma (via AFP, Taipei Times)
“I think we needed to go at it, go for the second goal and then the third.”Erling Haaland (to TNT Sports, via FotMob)
“In this period it was about trying to wait for the right moment and attack it in the right way.”Erling Haaland (via AFP, Taipei Times)
“I believe we produced our best performance without the ball.”Martín Demichelis (via FotMob)
“I feel like we deserved more today and you end up with zero points.”Antonio Nusa (to TNT Sports, via AFP)
City made the better chances in Leipzig and still needed Haaland's late goal, because they kept letting Leipzig back in.
What's happening. City won 3–2 in Leipzig after two league defeats, with Haaland's goal 12 minutes from time. They led twice and Leipzig levelled twice, the second time three minutes after Fernández's header. City now have nine points from four games in the league phase. Leipzig had won ten home games in a row before this one.
How it works. City's goals all came the same way: a wide player got to the edge of the six-yard box and played the ball across it. Against a side that defends with a high, busy back four, that ball is hard to deal with, because defenders face their own goal. The cost was at the other end. Leipzig pressed, ran at City's full-backs with Gruda and Nusa, and scored twice from their few good moves.
What the shots say. By FotMob's xG, City's chances were worth more than two goals and Leipzig's less than one. One reading: City were the clearly better side and the scoreline flatters Leipzig. The other: City have now conceded in seven games in a row, and two goals from 0.87 xG is not the first time chances of modest value have gone in against them.