Erling Haaland slid in the winner 12 minutes from time as Manchester City beat RB Leipzig 3-2 in a five-goal Champions League thriller at the Red Bull Arena, twice losing the lead before their No.9 settled a chaotic night in Germany.
City led through a Castello Lukeba own goal, were pegged back by Ridle Baku, went ahead again through Enzo Fernandez, were dragged level once more by Antonio Nusa, and finally won it when Haaland — who had hardly had a touch all evening — converted Elliot Anderson's early cross on 78 minutes, as reported by TNT Sports and VAVEL.
An own goal, then a second-half storm
City controlled the first half without cutting Leipzig open, and their breakthrough on 37 minutes came with a slice of luck: Nico O'Reilly's cross was turned into his own net by Lukeba, giving Enzo Maresca's side a 1-0 half-time lead their possession deserved.
The second half was a different game entirely. Leipzig, coached by former City defender Martin Demichelis, came out flying: Gianluigi Donnarumma first produced a wonderful diving save to deny Christoph Baumgartner, but he was beaten at his near post on 49 minutes by Baku, who sprinted onto Brajan Gruda's reverse pass and sneaked his finish in from a tight angle.
Fernandez restored City's lead on 58 minutes with an exquisite header, ghosting in to meet Iliman Ndiaye's teasing cross and guiding the ball back across goal — only for Leipzig to level again two minutes later. Substitute Christopher Nkunku flicked on Gruda's pass and Nusa took one touch before driving low into the far corner, his first Champions League goal since his competition debut for Club Brugge in September 2022.
Haaland does what Haaland does
Anderson had blazed over from around the penalty spot moments earlier and was fuming with himself — but he made amends in the decisive moment. On 78 minutes he progressed down the right and delivered an early cross, and Haaland slid in to knock the ball into an empty net. It was his 13th career goal against Leipzig, extending his record against his favourite opponents, a theme we set out in our pre-match preview.
Leipzig still would not lie down. Captain David Raum, booked minutes earlier, curled an audacious effort that beat Donnarumma and rebounded off the left post on 81 minutes. Maresca responded by sending on his own captain, Ruben Dias, and then a triple change — Mateo Kovacic, Allan and Ayyoub Bouaddi — to see out a win that could easily have slipped away.
So what does it mean?
City move to nine points from four league-phase games and back towards the top eight and the automatic knockout places, easing the pressure that had built on Maresca after back-to-back Premier League defeats, most recently at home to Brighton. On a night when Fenerbahce stunned Liverpool in Istanbul, City were the English side who found a way.
For Leipzig, a third defeat leaves them on three points and in real trouble near the bottom of the 36-team table — yet Demichelis can take genuine heart from twice coming back against one of the competition's favourites, and from the performances of Gruda, Baku and Nusa. Their problem is no longer performance. It is arithmetic.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is why you build your team around a finisher like Haaland. City were rattled, their lead had gone twice, their goalkeeper had been beaten at his near post and the woodwork had just spared them at the other end — and one early cross was all their quiet No.9 needed. Leipzig played the better second half and lost, because in this fixture Haaland always, eventually, scores.
Was this City's most important win of Maresca's season so far? Let us know in the comments.
