Manchester City were saved by the rules as they drew 1-1 at home to Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday.
In the final minute, Silvia Cristobal fired what appeared to be a Real winner but referee Silvia Gasperotti disallowed the goal because she had collided with City’s Beth Mead in the build-up.
Elsewhere, Inter Milan’s draw in Vienna left reigning champions Barcelona, who thrashed Roma on Wednesday, as the only team with six points after two rounds.
In the first senior match for a Manchester City team since the release of a report into the men’s team that found the club guilty of over 100 charges of breaches of Premier League financial rules, the women hosted Real in the relative anonymity of the club’s training ground.
Linda Caicedo gave the visitors the lead after 29 minutes.
After the break, City, the reigning English champions, were more aggressive. They were rewarded for their pressing after 51 minutes when Khadija Shaw drove the ball home.
City’s late escape left both teams with two draws and just inside the top 12 places.
“We tried the second half much better than we started the first half,” Shaw told Disney+. “Disappointed that we didn’t win the game but definitely fight to the end and that’s good.”
The day after Paris FC played their first Women’s Champions League home game at Stade Jean Bouin, across the road from Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes, PSG’s women’s team entertained Leuven 20 kilometres away at the club’s suburban training centre.
Rasheedat Ajibade put the hosts ahead from close range after nine minutes against the Belgians.
Naomie Feller then scored two of her own in the 51st and 63rd minutes before Sakina Karchaoui and Vitoria Yaya completed the rout.
In the early games, Modesta Uka scored Austria Vienna’s first goal in the Women’s Champions League but Inter Milan captain Ivana Andres levelled in the fourth minute of added time to earn a 1-1 draw.
In a match between two teams that had lost in the opening round, HB Koge crushed visiting Swiss team Servette 5-1 in Denmark.
