Manchester City drew 0-0 with Copenhagen in Tuesday’s Champions League meeting as the Blues dropped their first points in this season’s group stage.
Pep Guardiola’s side found Copenhagen tough to break down despite last week’s convincing 5-0 win over the Danish champions, although Erling Haaland didn’t feature back in Scandinavia, with the striker an unused substitute. City also weren’t helped by a first-half red card which meant they had to play around an hour with 10 men.
It was a difficult opening 45 minutes for City, which began with Julian Alvarez firing wide from a narrow angle before Rodri found the back of the net with a thunderbolt on 11 minutes. But the strike from distance was ruled out due a perceived Riyad Mahrez handball in the build-up, following a VAR check at the pitchside monitor.
A similar incident resulted in City winning a penalty soon after when Nicolai Boilesen was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area. Riyad Mahrez stepped up and fired the ball towards the left post, but Kamil Grabara pulled off a great save to keep it out.
A third VAR decision at the screenside monitor followed on 30 minutes when Sergio Gomez pulled back Hakon Arnar Haraldsson as the striker tried to make a darting run into the box. The Spaniard was rightly shown a straight red and Haraldsson’s subsequent free-kick didn’t make it past the wall, while he saw a shot late in the opening period sail wide.
After the break, Copenhagen sat deep and made it difficult for City to create chances. The best for the visitors came from a Kevin De Bruyne effort that required a save from Grabara, while the Belgian also hit the side netting.
In what was a quiet half, Joao Cancelo also went close from the edge of the box and Alvarez headed over late on. Grabara stopped Ilkay Gundogan’s shot from distance, while Marko Stamenic had two decent efforts in the dying embers.
Here’s how we rated the players...
1. Ederson- 5
There were a few uncharacteristically poor touches from the goalkeeper who didn’t have to make many saves despite Copenhagen more than holding their own in this game.
2. Joao Cancelo- 6
Started on the right but switched to the opposite side after the red card. Cancelo was one of the better City players on the night but was below his usual levels.
3. Manuel Akanji- 5
Defensively solid but didn’t offer a real attacking option after switching to right-back. The Swiss international appeared to hurt his shoulder in the second half but managed to continue.
4. Aymeric Laporte- 6 (off 88)
Wasn’t tested much from a defensive standpoint but looked good on the ball. Appeared tired when he came off in the latter stages,