Manchester City, the defending champions, recovered from an early setback to secure a 3-1 victory over visitors Red Star, thanks to a brace from Julián Alvarez in Group G of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. Coach Pep Guardiola's team dominated the first half, but the visitors stunned them with a goal from Osman Bukari before halftime. City maintained their unbeaten home record in the competition, stretching to 26 matches prior to this encounter, and equalized through Alvarez after a pass from Erling Haaland.
Red Star’s goalkeeper Omri Glazer misjudged a pass from Alvarez, allowing the ball to find the back of his net just after the hour mark. Rodri then made it 3-1 in the 73rd minute, marking City’s 19th consecutive home win across all competitions. Nearly three months after City lifted the trophy following their victory over Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul, the English champions comfortably began their title defense.
However, the first 45 minutes were not promising, as it appeared to be one of those nights where City would miss numerous chances. Once Argentine Alvarez equalized in the 47th minute, there were no doubts about the outcome. Guardiola remarked, "I don’t know how many chances we missed in the last two matches. We played really well, but we couldn’t score. The level was steady, and in the end, we won the game."
Norwegian Haaland failed to score for the fourth consecutive match in the Champions League, missing several opportunities in the first half, where City attempted 22 shots, the most by any team in the first 45 minutes since statistics began. Glazer saved a shot from Phil Foden and cleared attempts by Nathan Aké and Rodri.
From one mistake by City’s defense, Bukari found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Ederson, scoring at the end of the first half. The referee initially ruled the goal offside, but VAR confirmed its legitimacy. City responded quickly in the second half when Haaland set up Alvarez, who converted it into a goal. Although Kyle Walker found the net, the referee disallowed the second goal for offside. Alvarez’s cross was misjudged by Glazer, resulting in an own goal. City dominated their opponent, and Rodri, the scorer of the winning goal against Inter in last season's final, capped off the night with a powerful shot from outside the box.
