Man City 1-1 Real Madrid: Shaw levels Caicedo opener

Manchester City's return home in the Women's Champions League ended in a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid on Thursday, Bunny Shaw's second-half equaliser cancelling out Linda Caicedo's first-half opener at the City Football Academy. The result leaves the Women's Super League champions still seeking a first win of their league-phase campaign, having also drawn their opening game away to Bayern Munich.

Both sides pushed hard for a winner after Shaw's goal, and the closing minutes produced one of the more unusual endings of the season, with Real Madrid's Silvia Cristobal striking into the top corner only for the referee to blow for a stoppage before the ball was hit, having inadvertently blocked Beth Mead from reaching the ball.

Caicedo puts Real Madrid ahead

Real Madrid started the stronger of the two and took the lead on 29 minutes. Caicedo ran around the outside of Laura Blindkilde Brown down the right before being given too much space in the box by Alex Greenwood, and clipped her finish inside the far post.

City had chances of their own before the interval. Alex Greenwood clipped an excellent free-kick from out wide into the Real Madrid six-yard box, where Mary Fowler met it with a header that came back off the bar. Shaw also showed good hold-up play in the box before laying off for Yui Hasegawa, whose powerfully struck effort was bravely headed away by Maelle Lakrar.

Ayaka Yamashita had to be alert at the other end, rushing out to close down Felicia Schroder as the forward spun and shot close to goal.

Shaw levels after the break

City began the second half with renewed vigour, and Shaw made that intent clear by declining to celebrate when she scored. Hasegawa charged forward from midfield and slipped the ball through to Shaw, who took a touch to spin on the turn before firing into the bottom corner on 51 minutes. Shaw immediately motioned to her team-mates to get back for the restart.

The goal was Shaw's fourth in the competition, in what was only her sixth appearance in it, and it gave City a platform from which to push for a winner.

Late chances for both sides

Lauren Hemp's influence grew considerably after the break, and it was her cross from the right that Mead met with a header that went just above the bar on 70 minutes. Shaw had earlier headed over from a Hemp cross in the 62nd minute, while Greenwood's corner was worked to Hasegawa just inside the area, only for her volley to go wastefully wide for the second time in the match.

Real Madrid were dangerous on the break throughout. Lakrar found Caicedo in the box on 63 minutes and the Colombian quickly got a shot away that went wide of Yamashita's far post, before being withdrawn for Bruun minutes later. Madrid also made a triple change in that period, bringing on Sara Däbritz, Lineth Beerensteyn and Keukelaar. City replaced Kerstin Casparij with Niamh Charles before a triple change of their own saw Grace Clinton, Beth Mead and Sam Coffey come on for Fujino, Blindkilde Brown and Fowler.

Yamashita made another excellent stop to keep out Irune Dorado with under 15 minutes remaining, and Beth Mead had a difficult few minutes, first under hitting a backheel from a dangerous position in the box and then overhitting a through-ball to Shaw.

The disallowed goal

The decisive moment arrived in the 89th minute. Cristobal picked the ball up from the edge of the box and fired into the top corner, but referee Silvia Gasperotti had already blown the whistle, having inadvertently blocked Mead as the City forward attempted to get to the ball.

Real Madrid's players and coaching staff were furious and appealed for the goal to stand, with head coach Pau Quesada heading straight to the referee at full-time to express his displeasure. The goal was not given, and the closely fought contest ended level.

What the managers said

City boss Andree Jeglertz said the noise around the club had not affected his players. "Of course there is a lot of noise outside but the players are very calm. There are no discussions, no thoughts from us about the Premier League investigation," he said. "I haven't seen or noticed anything which would take any percentage out of the players' performance."

Shaw, speaking to Disney+, said her side had improved markedly after the interval. "We started the second half much better than how we started the first half and that's something we're going to look on as a team," she said. "We're disappointed we didn't win the game but definitely showed fight at the end and that's good as well."

Sky Sports News reporter Ben Ransom, at the City Football Academy, said: "A hard-fought draw for City in their first home game back in this competition. There were a lot of distractions for everyone connected to the club in the build-up but it didn't show in their performance. An excellent strike from either side with moments of quality and it gives both teams something to build on from here."

What comes next

City failed to win a home UWCL match for the first time since 2019, but will draw encouragement from the fact that both of their draws this season have come after going behind. They now turn to a Women's Super League meeting with Arsenal at the weekend, while Real Madrid prepare to travel to Barcelona.

SportsLigue