October 02, (THEWILL) — Manchester City were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Monaco on Wednesday evening after Eric Dier converted a 90th-minute penalty at the Stade Louis II. The result denied Pep Guardiola’s side three points in their second UEFA Champions League fixture of the 2025/2026 campaign, despite a brace from Erling Haaland that had appeared enough to claim victory in France.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 15th minute with an acrobatic half-volley after Joško Gvardiol delivered a ball over the top of Monaco’s defence. The goal extended the Norway international’s remarkable run to eight consecutive matches with a goal for club and country. However, Monaco responded almost immediately through Jordan Teze, whose curling effort found the top corner just three minutes later to level the contest at 1–1.
The visitors regained their advantage on the stroke of half-time when Haaland headed home a cross from Nico O’Reilly, marking his second goal of the evening. Three of City’s four UCL goals this season have now come from the prolific striker, who continues to carry much of the attacking burden for Guardiola’s team.
The second half produced fewer goals but no shortage of tension, with both Gianluigi Donnarumma and Philipp Köhn making crucial saves to maintain the narrow scoreline. In stoppage time, Nico González caught Dier in the face with a high boot whilst attempting a clearance inside the penalty area. Referee Jesús Gil Manzano issued two red cards to each bench amid heated exchanges before reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
The Spanish official awarded the penalty, and Dier made no mistake from 12 yards to salvage a point for the French side. Manchester City, who had defeated Napoli 2–0 in their opening group match two weeks earlier, now leave Monaco with just a single point from a fixture they had dominated for long periods.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
