Leverkusen mastermind stunning victory on the road against Manchester City

Man City paid a heavy price for rotating their squad tonight as Leverkusen muscled their way to victory in England.

Bayer Leverkusen faced a seemingly daunting task this evening as Manchester City welcomed Kasper Hjulmand’s side to the Etihad Stadium. However, the Bundesliga club delivered a wonderful performance as goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick ensured a 2-0 victory. 

Still, Mark Flekken’s goal came under fire inside five minutes as the Netherlands shot-stopper was forced to keep out Nathan Ake’s strike. Leverkusen also got a sniff at goal themselves when Ibrahim Maza found Ernest Poku whose effort deflected wide off Rayan Aït Nouri. 

Naturally enough, Pep Guardiola’s team continued to dominate large swathes of possession, but Leverkusen took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd-minute. Quansah’s cross from the right, cushioned down by Christian Kofane, was met by Grimaldo who drilled it into the lower right corner. 

City regained some control of the game albeit Leverkusen continued to threaten on the break as Grimaldo probed for space. A late flurry before the break from the hosts involved vital use of Flekken’s right boot and torso to keep Oscar Bobb and Tijjani Reijnders at bay. 

Guardiola’s treble change of Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly at the interval couldn’t prevent Leverkusen from making it 2-0. Tillman’s switch of play found Grimaldo who slipped it to Maza. The 20-year-old’s pin-point cross found Schick to power home with his head.

City called upon the cavalry with 25 minutes remaining as ex-BVB striker Erling Haaland replaced former Frankfurt star Omar Marmoush. The big Norwegian marksman was involved almost instantly as Flekken produced a fine one-on-one save before he fired over the bar with a later attempt. 

Rayan Cherki tried his level best to bring the Citizens back into the game late on. The French attacker’s free-kick kept Flekken on his toes. Ultimately, Hjulmand’s side soaked up the pressure well ensuring a massive victory and with it a much-needed injection of life into their European campaign.