Defending champions Manchester City came back from a goal down to defeat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 in their Group G opener on Tuesday, with Argentine Julian Alvarez scoring twice at The Etihad. Pep Guardiola’s men dominated the first half but were guilty of poor finishing and were caught off guard just before halftime when Osman Bukari surged away to finish in style.
City entered the game on a 26-match unbeaten run at home in the Champions League, and normal business was resumed almost immediately after the restart when Alvarez leveled after combining with Erling Haaland. On the hour, a mistake by Red Star keeper Omri Glazer enabled an Alvarez cross to go in, and Rodri made it 3-1 with a clinical goal after 73 minutes as City made it 19 home wins in a row in all competitions.
After finally claiming Europe’s biggest club title with a triumph over Inter Milan in Istanbul just over three months ago, City began their defense in an ultimately easy way. But for 45 minutes, it appeared to be one of those nights, as chance after chance went begging. When Argentina’s attacking midfielder Alvarez equalized in the 47th minute, only one outcome seemed likely.
Norwegian goal-scoring machine Haaland has now gone four Champions League games without scoring, and he was responsible for several terrible misses in a first half in which City had the most goal attempts in the league since data collection began. He headed one effort wide, missed another easy chance against the crossbar, and then fired over. In the first half, Red Star custodian Glazer was outstanding, rejecting Phil Foden from close range as well as Nathan Ake and Rodri. But, in the 45th minute, City became silent, and a ball forward sent Bukari through with only Ederson to beat.
The Ghanaian blasted past the City keeper with remarkable coolness, but his celebration was cut short by an offside flag before referee Joao Pinheiro allowed it to stand following VAR intervention. Kyle Walker had a goal disallowed for offside before Glazer gifted the hosts their second goal. Glazer flapped at thin air as Alvarez blasted in a right-footed cross that nestled in the net. Rodri, who scored the winner against Inter in June, struck a lethal right-foot strike from the left side of the penalty box as City began to toy with a flagging Red Star.
The last two games I didn’t know how many chances we missed. We played really, really well but we were not able to score goals. We were consistent and in the end, we won the game, Guardiola said.
