Manchester City climbed into the top eight of the UEFA Champions League League Phase after a thrilling 3-2 victory at RB Leipzig, ending the German side’s 10-match winning run at the Red Bull Arena.
Targeting a third successive Champions League home win for the first time since 2020, the Red Bulls held their own in a closely fought opening quarter-hour.
The lively Antonio Nusa cut inside and saw a powerful strike parried over by Gianluigi Donnarumma, while at the other end, Rayan Cherki dragged a promising chance narrowly wide of the far post.
Martin Demichelis’ side continued to threaten as the first half progressed, with Christoph Baumgartner curling wide from 25 yards.
Nevertheless, it was City who took a fortuitous lead in the 37th minute, as Nico O’Reilly’s low ball into the box was clumsily diverted into his own net by Castello Lukeba.
The visitors could’ve added a second before half-time, but Erling Haaland and O’Reilly failed to convert with a pair of close-range headers.
Having won each of their last 10 outings at the Red Bull Arena, Leipzig came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second period, as Baumgartner saw a long-range effort superbly tipped around the post by Donnarumma.
Despite that save, the City keeper was caught out just two minutes later, when Ridle Baku spotted a gap at the near post and fired a brilliant strike beyond the Italian.
Undeterred, Enzo Maresca’s men restored their lead before the hour mark, with Enzo Fernandez heading home from an inch-perfect Iliman Ndiaye delivery.
The end-to-end nature of the contest showed no signs of slowing down, and Leipzig were back on level terms just three minutes later, as substitute Christopher Nkunku set up Nusa for a clinical finish in the box.
Determined to regroup heading into the final 20 minutes, City threatened a third goal, with Maarten Vandevoordt standing firm to deny a sharp effort from Cherki.
The visitors’ pressure paid dividends shortly after, as excellent work from Elliot Anderson set up Haaland for a simple finish at the back post – the Norwegian’s 13th goal against Leipzig in just nine appearances.
Cherki, Haaland and Jeremy Doku all went close to adding further gloss to the scoreline, but Maresca’s men saw out the victory to make it three wins from four to start the League Phase.
As for Leipzig, they slip to 30th in the standings, as their losing run against English opposition extends to six matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Elliot Anderson (Manchester City)
Get all the match stats with Flashscore.