Manchester City’s away-day woes returned as Monaco secured a late 2-2 draw in their Champions League group stage match thanks to Eric Dier’s contentious late penalty.
City appeared to be on their way to a well-deserved victory in the dying minutes when referee Jesus Gil Manzano was summoned to the VAR monitor to assess Nico Gonzalez’s high boot on Dier at a free kick, which he eventually judged a foul—with a number of visiting backroom personnel sent off as passions boiled over.
Even without wanting to directly berate the decision, Pep Guardiola took clear issue with the referee’s call, later telling TNT Sports, “We didn’t defend [the free kick] perfectly; we conceded a penalty despite touching the ball first; it touched the opponent but touched the ball too.”
Dier stepped up from 12 yards to send Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way, extending Manchester City’s winless away skid in the tournament to a second year—12 months to the day since they last won on the road against Slovan Bratislava.
Even with that decision, City should have been out of sight after twice hitting the crossbar and taking 18 shots but failing to add to Erling Haaland’s first-half double.
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The huge Norwegian was in terrific form again, scoring twice before halftime with only seven touches, one of which was a kickoff.
His first touch of the night was a clever flip on Josko Gvardiol’s lofted pass after 14 minutes, but any doubts about his efficiency were quickly dispelled when Jordan Teze rifled a superb 20-yard equalizer into the top corner three minutes later.
Phil Foden hit the bar as City’s dominance grew before Haaland blasted a header from Nico O’Reilly’s cross past Philipp Kohn for his second soon before halftime.
“I still think I’m involved in the game with my movements, giving space to others. It’s not only about touching the ball as to if you’re in the game or not,” he said.
Tijjani Reijnders was also denied by the woodwork after the break, and Haaland missed a great chance to complete his hat trick shortly after.
The visitors appeared to be on their way to victory, but after failing to extend their slim lead, they were punished harshly when Gonzalez’s challenge was punished with a penalty, which the home side converted to restore parity.
