Real Madrid v Manchester City: Haaland penalty completes first-half comeback after Rodrygo ends record Real goal drought
The Norwegian scored his 34th goal of the season for club and country
Erling Haaland scored his 34th goal for club and country this season as Manchester City came from behind to take a first-half lead against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Haaland blasted home a 43rd minute penalty for Pep Guardiola’s side after Nico O’Reilly had equalised following Rodrygo’s opener.
Los Blancos’ Brazilian forward had ended a 32-game goal drought – a club record – to give under-pressure Xabi Alonso’s men the advantage after 28 minutes.
After a flowing move from the hosts, Jude Bellingham found Rodrygo on the edge of the box and the 24-year-old, whose future in the Spanish capital has long been the subject of much debate, beat O’Reilly with his first touch before firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Alonso’s team were hoping to improve on a recent run of just two wins from seven matches in all competitions. However, they were pegged back minutes after going ahead when O’Reilly prodded in from point-blank range after Thibaut Courtois could only parry Josko Gvardiol’s header from a corner.
Then, shortly before the break, Haaland was wrestled to the ground by Antonio Rudiger, leaving the referee with little option but to award the spok-kick after a quick VAR review.
The Norwegian picked himself up to send Courtois the wrong way and complete the City comeback.
A victory for City would see them move into the top four of the 36-team table, while Real could be in danger of dropping out of the eight automatic qualification spots.