Frantic San Siro draw as Kyle Walker replaces Bravo in goal

Manchester City finished with Kyle Walker in goal as their progression to the Champions League knockout stages was stalled by Atalanta in a dramatic 1-1 draw.

Raheem Sterling's seventh-minute goal looked set to be paving the way for another dominant display from the Premier League champions, who thrashed Atalanta 5-1 in the reverse fixture and wanted a win to guarantee their place in the last 16.

However, Gabriel Jesus' dreadful penalty miss and the half-time substitution of goalkeeper Ederson – who reportedly had a minor injury – handed Atalanta hope, with Mario Pasalic then heading in their equaliser.

A red card for Ederson's replacement, Claudio Bravo, caused mayhem in the closing stages, with Walker, after a long delay, brought on to take his place in net, and the emergency goalkeeper held his nerve as City held firm to claim a point.

Hans Hateboer missed a great early chance for Atalanta, but it was City who took the lead when Sterling swept home at the culmination of a slick move.

 

November 6, 2019

City looked to have been gifted the chance to double their lead when referee Aleksey Kulbakov awarded a penalty for Rafael Toloi's foul on Sterling, only for VAR to rightly overturn the decision as initial contact came outside the box.

Chaos commenced from the resulting free-kick – Sterling's strike hit Josip Ilicic on the arm, with Kulbakov giving the penalty after checking with VAR.

Jesus' spot-kick let Atalanta off the hook, though, with the Brazil forward sending a dreadful attempt well wide of the left post.

Atalanta were level four minutes into the second half, as Bravo's first act was to collect the ball out of his own net after Pasalic powered in Alejandro Gomez's sensational cross.

Bravo's chaotic cameo was brought to an end in the 81st minute, with VAR backing up the referee's decision to send the goalkeeper off for a lunge on Ilicic after charging out of the penalty area.

Walker had to step up, but despite a nervy start when he fumbled Ruslan Malinovskiy's free-kick, the right-back was not severely tested as Atalanta failed to capitalise on City’s misfortune.

 

November 6, 2019