Manchester City defeated Real Madrid, 4-3, in the first leg of their 2021-22 Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
The match featured plenty of star power and did not disappoint, as a see-saw battle between the sides gave the crowd a game to remember at the Etihad Stadium.
The Sky Blues looked to be cruising over the first quarter-hour, taking a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus. De Bruyne's marker came in the second minute, with the Belgian getting on the end of a perfectly-placed chip from Riyad Mahrez and nodding in from close.
Jesus doubled the lead just nine minutes later, with the Brazilian receiving a pass inside the penalty area from De Bruyne and turning his defender before side-footing the ball under Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The visitors would not be discouraged by the sudden deficit though, and in the 33rd minute Karim Benzema cut the lead in half with a nifty volley from near the penalty spot.
However, City would then restore the two-goal advantage early in the second half as Phil Foden finished a Fernandinho cross in the 53rd minute.
The celebrations had barely finished when Madrid once again cut the lead down to one goal, as Vinicius Jr. completed a 50-yard run down the left flank and slid the ball past City 'keeper Ederson just two minutes after Foden's strike.
Madrid used the Vinicius strike to push themselves onto the front foot, dominating the next 15 minutes as they probed for an equalizer. City eventually re-claimed some control of the match, and in the 74th minute a quick-thinking Bernardo Silva was rewarded with a rocket shot into the top left corner of the visitors' net. The goal took Madrid by surprise, as Toni Kroos appeared to foul City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko just outside the penalty area, causing almost the entire visiting side to stop playing in anticipation of a whistle from the referee.
Instead, Silva took possession and stepped into the 18-yard box before firing home past a stunned Courtois, as the referee had allowed play to continue with City in control of the ball.
Once again, the Sky Blues saw themselves holding a two-goal lead, and again Madrid cut it down to one. In the 82nd minute, Benzema struck his second tally of the night with a successful penalty kick, chipping the ball straight down the middle as Ederson could do nothing but watch after diving to his left.
Madrid continued to press for a leveller, but time ran out on the comeback and the home side ran out winners by the slimmest of margins.
The teams meet again May 4 at the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg.