City surrender 3-0 lead as Feyenoord produce stunning fightback

Manchester City suffered a remarkable UEFA Champions League capitulation as they conceded three second-half goals to sacrifice a dominant position and draw 3-3 with Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola’s side had opened the scoring shortly before the interval when Erling Haaland converted from the spot, and looked to be cruising when quick-fire strikes at the start of the second half from Ilkay Gundogan and Haaland put the Premier League champions 3-0 up.

But, after Guardiola had made a trio of changes to rest Gundogan, Phil Foden and Nathan Ake, City fell apart in the second half.

An error by Josko Gvardiol saw the full-back play a no-look pass to Anis Hadj-Moussa, who took full advantage to score what initially appeared to be merely a consolation.

A rejuvenated Feyenoord further punished a lacklustre City late on, as substitute Santiago Gimenez made it 3-2 with a close-range finish before David Hancko finished off a terrific move to earn Feyenoord the unlikeliest of draws.

The result means City have won just two of their five UEFA Champions League games this season, leaving them at significant risk of missing out on one of the eight automatic qualification spots for the knockout stage.

Talking point – Problems persist at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola buried his head in his hands when Gvardiol’s error gifted Feyenoord their first goal, with the City manager presumably frustrated by the sort of error that suggests his squad are still not performing at the level he expects.

But even Guardiola can’t have expected that goal to be the start of a capitulation that saw City throw two points away.

A lack of game management and some shambolic defending played a part on the field, and the manager will be left wondering whether he made a mistake in introducing two youngsters with more than 20 minutes still to play.

Player of the match – Timon Wellenreuther

Feyenoord’s goalkeeper was calm and composed on the ball throughout the game and also made a number of terrific saves, most notably to deny a Haaland header that came back off the post and then stretching out a big left hand to save from Foden, both in the first half. Wellenreuther’s efforts looked like they were going to be in vain, but his saves took on a much greater significance at full-time.

Player ratings

Man City: Ederson 6, Lewis 6, Akanji 5, Ake 6, Gvardiol 5, Silva 7, Gundogan 5, Nunes 7, Foden 6, Haaland 7, Grealish 6. Subs: De Bruyne 6, Simpson-Pusey 5, McAtee 5.

Feyenoord: Wellenreuther 8, Nieuwkoop 6, Trauner 6, Hancko 8, Smal 7, Hwang7, Milambo 6, Timber 6, Hadj Moussa 7, Carranza 7, Igor Paixao 7. Subs: Beelen 8, Zerrouki 8, Gimenez 8, Lotomba 8, Gonzalez 6.

Match highlights

9’ – TERRIFIC SAVE DENIES HAALAND

A looping cross is headed on by Haaland. It comes off the post and is brilliantly clawed away by Wellenreuther. So close to the opener!

City work the ball into Fode just outside the box, who shoots on the turn and draws a super stop out of Wellenreuther, diving low to his left. That was terrific football all round.

Chaos in the box as Haaland goes down amidst a flailing of limbs and a follow-up shot seems to strike an arm. The referee points to the spot and VAR agrees that Haaland was fouled. It’s a penalty for City.

44’ – GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 1-0 FEYENOORD (HAALAND)

Erling Haaland steps up, sends the keeper the wrong way, and thumps the penalty home to put City 1-0 up. You can feel the relief surge around the Etihad.

50’ – GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 2-0 FEYENOORD (GUNDOGAN)

Feyenoord clear a corner but only as far as Gundogan on the edge of the box, who shoots first time and sees his effort take a wicked deflection to wrongfoot the keeper and send City 2-0 up.

53’ – GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 3-0 FEYENOORD (HAALAND)

City are rampant and it’s Haaland again. A raking pass picks out an excellent run from Nunes down the right, who picks his head up and sees the support arriving. His cross puts it on a plate for Haaland, who turns the ball home on the stretch. 3-0!

75’ – GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 3-1 FEYENOORD (MOUSSA)

City give the ball away as Gvardiol makes a mistake at the back, sending a no-look pass into space, and he’s punished in a big way as Hadj Moussa skips around the keeper and tucks the ball home from a narrow angle. It’s an excellent finish and he celebrates in style, whipping up the away support.

82’ – GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 3-2 FEYENOORD (GIMENEZ)

Oh my word, we’ve got a game on here. A deep cross is volleyed towards goal by Lotomba, whose effort hits the post and directs across the face of goal where it’s turned in by Gimenez. VAR checks for offside, but the goal is given. It’s 3-2 and we’ve got a big finish on our hands.

89’ – GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 3-3 FEYENOORD (HANCKO)

This is extraordinary! Feyenoord have come back from 3-0 down to level the scoring. Paixao darts in behind City’s high line and latches on to the pass over the top, beating Ederson to the ball and chipping it beyond the onrushing keeper. The touch forces him wide and he doesn’t quite have the time to go for goal, so instead picks out a deep cross to the onrushing Hancko, who heads into an empty net. We’re level at the Etihad. I repeat, we are level at the Etihad. Remarkable.

Key stats

This result is just the fifth time that City have not won in their past 34 home Champions League matches.