Man of the Match Poll: A Late Goal Gives Manchester City the Advantage Over Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund traveled to take on juggernauts Manchester City in the Champions League quarterfinals, and the hosts ran out winners on the night, 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden gaveCity the lead in this tie, but a Marco Reus finish has left Dortmund a window of opportunity to seize the tie in the return leg. While the Citizens enjoyed more shots and possession, Borussia Dortmund did a solid job defending and were only outdone by an Emre Can mistake and a masterful pass from Kevin De Bruyne. Die Schwarzgelben have work to do when the tie resumes at the Westfalenstadion in 8 days, but they left the door open to a semifinal berth. Lets take a look at today’s Man of the Match candidates:

Marco Reus

While the BVB captain has been the subject of controversy since his visible outpouring of frustration against Eintracht Frankfurt over the weekend, he looked every bit the capable leader today. Marco was in the mood early as his passes were quick and his movement was crisp early in the mach. Reus tended to fade away while City dominated the ball in the second half, but then a quick combination with Erling Haaland gave Dortmund a coveted away goal and equalizer in the 84th minute. Reus’ movement left him clean through on goal and there was never any doubt that the captain would finish this chance. With scoring his 18th Champions League goal in black and yellow, Reus passed Robert Lewandowski for first place all time at the club.

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Jude Bellingham

The 17 year-old continues to put in great performances, as he covered every inch of the pitch tonight for BVB. Jude’s ability to pressure the ball gave City midfielders fits, including arguably the hottest player in world football right now, Ilkay Gundogan. Bellingham also did extremely well pressuring City high up the pitch and snuck a shot through Kyle Walker that forced a strong save from Ederson early in the match. Controversy struck when, in the 37th minute, Jude put the ball back into the net after intercepting a poor back pass that Ederson came rushing out of the box to receive.

Unfortunately, the referee blew the whistle for a supposed foul by the young Englishman, but replays clearly showed that Jude clearly got the ball and was fouled by the City keeper before rolling the ball into the empty net. While Dortmund will be disappointed with the call, they are surely thrilled by Bellingham’s performance on the night.

Mats Hummels

As the leader of the backline, Hummels has had a shaky season, with his future at the club look uncertain. However, experience shows on nights like tonight, and the BVB center back played very well. Hummels hardly put a foot wrong in this match, and neither of the two goals were his fault. He marshalled the back line against a very talented and organized opponent. The German stalwart put in a few key blocks and was quick to make an important clearance in the 76th minute to keep the match 1-0.

Marwin Hitz

It’s not every day that giving up two goals gets you a MOTM nod, but I thought Hitz was good against a very dangerous Manchester City team. While Hitz could not do anything for either of the goals, he made 2 nice saves to keep the game manageable. Foden looked like he would score in the 65th minute, but Hitz made a quick reaction foot save to clear his lines. Later in the 76th minute, Foden had another chance, only for Hitz to slide and cover the area well. While he did fumble the ball, Hummels cleared the line and Dortmund stayed in the tie.

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