Eric Dier snatches points from Man City at the death | OneFootball

Manchester City thought they had won in Monaco thanks to an Erling Haaland brace but Eric Dier denied them the victory late on.

Monaco were unbeaten in their last five matches at home against English opponents. Pep Guardiola’s men arrived in the microstate with the intention of ending that run – a mission which was not accomplished.

The Blues have looked a different side since the September international break and they started well once again.

The opening goal came in the 15th minute and, of course, it came from Haaland. Josko Gvardiol chipped a delightful pass over the top of the Monaco defence and the Norwegian stretched to flick the bouncing ball over Philipp Kohn into an empty net. It was Haaland’s first touch of the match and he certainly made it count.

However, the early goal was not decisive as Monaco responded swiftly in the 18th minute, equalising with their first shot of the night. Jordan Teze found some space just outside the area and curled his strike perfectly into the top corner, leaving Gianluigi Donnarumma completely helpless.

The hosts possessed plenty of attacking quality and demonstrated their talent as they burst forward sporadically. Despite this, it was City who dominated proceedings throughout the first half.

Phil Foden rocketed a right-footed effort into the crossbar in the 33rd minute. Before Nico O’Reilly forced a top class save from Kohn in the 37th minute.

Tijjani Reijnders forced another good stop out of Kohn in the 42nd minute, with Haaland unable to fire the rebound home from a tight angle.

Just minutes later, Haaland did double his tally. O’Reilly floated a cross in and the Norwegian headed exquisitely into the bottom corner to give City the lead at the break.

Comfortable with their advantage, Guardiola’s men cruised for large periods of the second half. They did continue to threaten in moments, with Reijnders firing into the crossbar. Haaland was then denied a hat-trick by Kohn, who produced another smart save.

There was a moment of worry for City when Rodri went down holding his knee in the 55th minute. The Spaniard did continue, although he was withdrawn shortly afterwards on the hour mark.

His replacement, Nico Gonzalez, would go on to affect the outcome in a way he would not have wanted.

Monaco had been relatively passive throughout the second period until Dier went down in the penalty box in the 85th minute. The former Spurs man lowered his head as Gonzalez raised his foot in an attempt to clear.

The Spaniard flicked the ball away as Dier’s head collided with his leg, but VAR felt it was necessary to intervene. The referee was directed to the monitor and he overturned his original decision, awarding the penalty.

Dier stepped up and converted the penalty, levelling the score as the clock ticked past the 90th minute.

City desperately searched for a winner in the seven minutes of injury time, but to no avail. If the Blues had attacked with that same intensity throughout the second half, then they would surely have put further distance between themselves and Monaco.

However, they seemed to rest on their laurels and Guardiola was forced to settle for a solitary point from the encounter.