10-man City held to a draw at Copenhagen

Mueez Ajao

– Manchester City dropped their first Champions League points of the season as they were held to a 0-0 stalemate with FC Copenhagen at the Parken Stadium on Tuesday.

– City were made to play with 10 men for much of the affair after Sergio Gomez was shown a red card 30 minutes in. The Premier League champions struggled to assert dominance over their opposition as a result, and failed to score for the first time this season, with in-form striker Erling Haaland on the bench for the entirety of the match.

– An eventful first half was swamped with VAR controversy, firstly as Rodri’s piledriver was ruled out for an adjudged handball in the build-up by Riyad Mahrez.

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– The Spanish midfielder looked to have given City the lead 11 minutes in after thumping a 25-yard strike past Kamil Grabara — but a VAR check found that the ball took a slight touch on the hand of Mahrez as he battled between defenders for an aerial ball.

– And Mahrez was at the centre of the drama again in the 25th minute as he saw his penalty saved by Grabara after Nicolai Boilesen was penalised for handball following a VAR review.

– Just five minutes later, Gomez, 22, halted a Copenhagen attack by committing a foul on the edge of the area and, after a virtual check, was shown a straight red card for his challenge — forcing Guardiola to bring on defensive reinforcement Ruben Dias in place of Mahrez.

– Uncharacteristically for a City match, the affair slumped into a low-quality matchup for much of the second half, with City’s man disadvantage lulling them into a slower-than-usual tempo despite the raucous atmosphere.