Report from the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola’s Man City earned a hard-fought win over Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium thanks to Phil Foden’s swift impact off the bench
Kevin De Bruyne’s second-half goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win for Manchester City against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
In an absorbing tie at the Etihad, Diego Simeone’s team held out for 70 minutes but Phil Foden’s introduction brought the breakthrough that puts Pep Guardiola’s side in charge.
Despite a dominant performance, there was no second goal, meaning progress is far from guaranteed ahead of next week’s second leg in Madrid but this was a hard-fought victory.
Manchester City dominated from the outset, the pattern set as Atletico set up camp inside their own half, relying only on sporadic counter-attacks to relieve the pressure.
Joao Cancelo had a shot, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne yelled for penalties, balls came into the box. Atletico withstood the pressure. Jan Oblak was not tested in the first half.
The personnel at the club may have changed with talk of a more expansive approach, of that old defensive resolve being lost, but on the big stage this was a familiarly stoic Atletico.
Could City find a way through and take a lead back to the Spanish capital? They probed and they pushed, but there was a warning when Antoine Griezmann almost raced away.
The best chance of the first hour of the game came from a free-kick that De Bruyne fired low to Oblak’s left but the Slovenian goalkeeper cleared the ball at the second attempt.
