Diaz and Bellingham strike late in stunning comeback win

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Jude Bellingham scored in stoppage time as Real Madrid stunned Manchester City with a late 3-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions League knockout play-off tie.

Former City academy player Brahim Diaz had already silenced the Etihad with a late equaliser in the 86th minute before England midfielder Bellingham raced onto Vinicius Jr’s pass to secure a dramatic victory.

City looked to be heading into next week’s second leg with the advantage after Erling Haaland scored his second of the game from the penalty spot with 10 minutes to play after Kylian Mbappe had cancelled out the Norwegian’s first-half opener.

But Diaz, who had just been introduced, took advantage of Ederson’s clumsy attempt to gather the ball to ensure

City’s contingent spoke about using the tie to prove they are still one of the world’s top teams but started the game with the same defensive shakiness that has plagued their season so far, with Real presented with a number of opportunities early on.

Ederson was saved by the offside flag after bringing Vinicius Jr down in the box before Kylian Mbappe stung the palms of the Brazilian with a shot from a tight angle and then Vinicius couln’t find his feet inside the box.

But the way City went ahead a few moments later was a reminder of their class, with Haaland firing home after a slick combination involving Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol.

Grealish, given a rare start to impress, found space on the left and beautifully clipped the ball over the top to Gvardiol, who chested it into the path of Haaland and the striker did the rest in a huge boost for the hosts.

Phil Foden, introduced for the unfortunate Grealish who had started well before his withdrawal on half an hour, tried his luck from long range but Thibaut Courtois was equal to it this time.

Real put the pressure on early in the second half with Mbappe denied from close range by Ederson who dived low to his left to block the France forward’s shot after a nice move down the right.

The 26-year-old’s connection on those previous efforts was much better than ther one that eventually did find the net as he awkwardly struck Dani Ceballos’ pass to the far post, wrong-footing Ederson and finding the net.

A mazy Foden run allowed City to restore their lead from the penalty spot with less than 15 minutes remaining after Ceballos tripped the England man inside the box.

Up stepped Haaland, who made no mistake as he sent the keeper the wrong way for his 49th Champions League goal.

But just when City looked like they had earned themselves the advantage before heading to the Bernabeu, former City youngster Brahim Diaz lashed in at the rebound after Ederson had failed to gather Bellingham’s strike.

And then with virtually the last kick of the game, Vinicius lobbed Ederson who had come racing out of his goal and Bellingham was the quickest to latch onto it and the England forward had an easy finish to secure a thrilling victory.




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