LEIPZIG, Germany: Kyle Walker was shown a late red card as Manchester City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at RB Leipzig on Tuesday, but City still advanced to the Champions League’s last 16 as group winners.
Walker was dismissed seven minutes from time for kicking Leipzig striker Andre Silva, who had earlier doubled the hosts’ tally after Dominik Szoboszlai gave Leipzig a first-half lead.
“We showed today that with courage and will we can beat everyone,” Szoboszlai told DAZN.
Before Walker’s dismissal, City had pulled a goal back when Riyad Mahrez finally headed past Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, who had previously pulled off a string of saves.
Walker will now be banned for the first leg of the last 16 tie.
“Right now, we don’t know exactly what went wrong — we’ll have to sit down and analyze this,” said City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko.
“That we had won the group before the game had nothing really to do with our performance.”
Despite PSG’s 4-1 win against Club Brugge, City will go into Monday’s draw as Group A winners while third-placed Leipzig head into the knock-out stages of the Europa League.
After the final whistle, City coach Guardiola could not hide his irritation on the sidelines at the near-deserted Red Bull Arena as the game was played behind closed doors due to high numbers of Covid-19 cases in Saxony.
“We had already qualified with one game left from a tough group so I am more than satisfied with the performance in every single (European) game,” Guardiola said.
“We struggled in the first half today, but generally we have played well in the group stages.”
Leipzig rallied in their first game since American coach Jesse Marsch was sacked after inconsistent results. His assistant Achim Beierlorzer was on the home bench.
“That was the reaction we had wanted — and expected — to see,” said Leipzig chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff, who fired Marsch on Sunday.
In the build-up, Guardiola warned Kevin De Bruyne that he faces a fight to win back a regular place in the City side after a campaign marred by injuries and a coronavirus infection.
The Belgium midfielder fired wide after 17 minutes with the goal at his mercy, then had a thumping free-kick saved by Gulacsi in his best chances of the game.
Leipzig took the lead against the run of play when Konrad Laimer unleashed a superb pass which beat three defenders and put Szoboszlai in behind the City defense.
The attacking midfielder kept his nerve, rounded City goalkeeper Zach Steffen and fired into the empty net with 24 minutes played.
Leipzig nearly made it 2-0 with half-time approaching when Szoboszlai squared to Silva, but the Portugal striker headed straight at Steffen.
Guardiola responded at half-time by swapping England midfielder Phil Foden, who had an ankle knock, for Raheem Sterling, but Leipzig still held firm.
A huge roar from the home bench echoed around the stadium when Silva thumped home Emil Forsberg’s final pass to make it 2-0 on 71 minutes.
Leaking a second goal caused City to rally and they pulled one back when Oleksandr Zinchenko floated in a cross to the back post which Mahrez buried.
Walker’s dismissal only served to reduce City’s numbers for the final seven minutes as Leipzig held on.
Walker sent off as Man City crash at RB Leipzig
https://arab.news/p8bk9
Walker sent off as Man City crash at RB Leipzig
- Walker was dismissed seven minutes from time for kicking Leipzig striker Andre Silva
- After the final whistle, City coach Guardiola could not hide his irritation on the sidelines
Teen soccer players lay to rest mate killed in Swiss bar fire
- Brodard is one of seven members of Lutry Football Club who died in the fire, the club said
- Five others are still fighting for their lives in hospitals
LUTRY, Switzerland: Teammates of a 16-year-old soccer player Arthur Brodard were among the mourners on Thursday as Switzerland held funerals for some of the victims of the New Year bar fire in Crans-Montana that killed 40 people, most of them teenagers.
Brodard is one of seven members of Lutry Football Club who died in the fire, the club said. Five others are still fighting for their lives in hospitals.
Under light snowfall, hundreds walked through Lutry’s cobbled streets past a large drawing of Brodard and his younger brother to the church, black umbrellas in hand, filling every pew and spilling into the aisles and doorway.
His mother, Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, carried a white teddy bear and a single red rose — his team colors.
“I want to hug you so tightly that neither of us can breathe. I love you with all my heart, Arthur,” she said, addressing her son’s coffin after singing a song in his memory.
Other class and teammates also gave eulogies, describing him as attentive, sincere, kind and thoughtful.
CLUB PAYS TRIBUTE
At the start of the ceremony, a song called “One day in the wrong place” by France’s Calogero played with the lyrics: “And it’s because they were there/One day in the wrong place.”
Brodard had reserved a table with friends on New Year’s Eve at Le Constellation bar, his mother told Reuters last week.
Just over an hour before the blaze, he texted her “Happy New Year mum. I love you” and shared a disappearing video of them partying together, she said.
His photo, showing him with tousled brown hair carrying a Yorkshire Terrier “Lili,” appeared in newspapers around the world as she sought information on his whereabouts from morgues and hospitals.
He was identified as one of the victims on January 3.
“We will now join forces to fight together, to get our heads above water, regain the initiative, and finally even the score, ball in the center,” Lutry Football Club President Stephane Bise told the congregation.
Swiss authorities said the bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana had not had a mandatory inspection since 2019 and questions remain about safety standards.
Swiss prosecutors are investigating the owners and victims’ families have filed legal complaints. The owners’ lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Lutry ceremony was one of two back-to-back services for teenage fire victims at the same church.
Another joint funeral for 14- and 15-year-old sisters took place in Lausanne. Schools have mobilized mental health counsellors to support students and teachers.
Twenty-one of the dead were from Switzerland, seven from France, six from Italy, and there was a Swiss-French dual national and a French-British-Israeli national. The remaining four were Romanian, Turkish, Belgian and Portuguese.
