Ten-man Manchester City missed out on a penalty in a VAR-dominated goalless draw in Copenhagen, but still reached the last 16 of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola’s side qualified for the knockout stages of the competition after Sevilla failed to beat Borussia Dortmund in their second Group G match on Tuesday.
A dramatic start saw two controversial decisions set the tone for the evening.
Rodri’s brilliant 25-yard effort for City was disallowed after he was penalized for handling Riyad Mahrez, while the visitors benefited from a penalty when the ball hit the arm of home defender Nicolai Boyleson after a challenge with Manuel Akanji. were competing for the corner.
But Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara brilliantly saved Mahrez’s spot-kick to the delight of the Parken Stadium crowd, before Guardiola’s Sergio Gomes booked 19-year-old forward Haakon Haraldsson for a professional foul five minutes later. sent.
The decision came again after Portuguese referee Artur Dias was sent to the pitchside monitor, forcing the English champions to reshape and play a man down in the final hour.
Erling Holland was left on the bench against opponents who suffered a 5-0 defeat in Manchester just a week earlier.
Explaining his decision not to play the Norwegian, Guardiola said: “He finished the game against Southampton, very tired and not well.
“Yesterday was not good, today is a little better but not perfect so we decided not to take the risk.”
City’s Winning Streak Is Over.
While City saw a run of six consecutive victories come to an end with their 100% record loss in the competition, Guardiola looked content with a point in a contest they dominated early on.
A young Copenhagen team with six players aged 20 and under struggled to cope with the experienced side early on and Julian Alvarez came close to scoring during the visitors’ show.
And despite Gomez’s miss just before the half-hour mark, City retained around 70% possession before the break, although the dynamic of the game changed after that.
With Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, introduced late, rested for City’s upcoming trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday (16:30 BST), the visitors were limited to long-range efforts. were
Joao Cancelo and Kevin de Bruyne both tested Grabara, while at the other end Lukas Lerager’s dipping shot was deflected off the nearest Jakob Neestrup for his first goal of the tournament this term.
