"Another disastrous moment for a Glazer in Manchester" "Deserves the Ballon d'Or" - Fans react as Manchester City seal comeback win against Red Star
Manchester City had to come from behind to beat Red Star Belgrade 3-1 in their first game of their defense of their UEFA Champions League title.
The Cityzens headed into the game at the Etihad on Tuesday (September 19) as massive favorites to beat the Serbian outfit. They are unbeaten in the Premier League and have made a scintillating start to the campaign with five wins from five games.
Manchester City dominated proceedings and should have taken the lead in the first period if not for fine goalkeeping from Israeli goalkeeper Omri Glazer. He did well to parry away a fierce effort from Rodri in the 14th minute as Pep Guardiola's side searched for an early opener.
Glazer was once again called into action in the 29th minute when Julian Alvarez's dangerous corner was headed towards goal by Nathan Ake. The Red Star shot-stopper produced a brilliant stop to deny the Dutchman.
Erling Haaland surprisingly failed to score against West Ham United in a 3-1 win on the weekend and he went close in the 34th minute. The Norweigan superstar placed his effort over the bar from 10 yards out.
It was becoming somewhat laughable that Manchester City weren't in front. Phil Foden was the latest player to miss a glorious chance seven minutes later. He had a free header but directed it straight at Glazer.
Those spurned chances came back to haunt the reigning European champions in the 45th minute. Just before half time, Red Star winger Osman Bukari stunned the Etihad to silence when he put the visitors 1-0 up.
The Ghanian attacker latched on to a perfect through ball from Mirko Ivanic to give Barak Bakhar's side an unlikely lead. The offside flag went up and the Serbian outfit were given a long wait before VAR ruled Bukari had beaten the offside trap.
However, Red Star's hopes of causing an almighty upset were quickly put to bed by Alvarez's brilliant equalizer just two minutes into the second half. The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner was found by Haaland and he raced beyond Glazer before poking home from a tight angle.
Kyle Walker then had the ball in the net in the 52nd minute but he was ruled offside. It needn't matter though as Glazer had a moment to forget, undoing all his hard work. The Israeli goalkeeper flapped at Alvarez's free kick that fell into the back of the net in the 60th minute.
Rodri then made sure of a victory for Manchester City to start their defense of their European title. The Spaniard cooly guided the ball home from just inside the box in the 73rd minute to seal a 3-1 win.
City deserved their victory but Bukari's opener gave them a slight scare. One fan was full of praise for Alvarez:
"If we're being honest Julian Alvarez deserves the Ballon d'Or over Haaland."
Paddy Power amusingly reacted to Glazer's error:
"Yet another disastrous moment for a Glazer in Manchester."
Here's how Twitter reacted to the Manchester City's comeback win against Red Star:
Bernardo Silva set to miss Manchester City's next few games
There was cause for concern in the 44th minute when Bernardo Silva went down with an injury. The Portuguese playmaker was forced off with Jeremy Doku coming on in his place.
Manchester City boss Guardiola has given an update on Silva and he claims he'll be out for the next few games, per BBC Sport's Simon Stone. The 27-year-old has started the season strongly with one goal and one assist in five games across competitions.
However, City will likely be without the Portugal international with some big games ahead. They face Nottingham Forest this weekend (September 23) before travelling to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup four days later.