City comeback halts Bayern's record run

Manchester City FC came from two goals behind to bring FC Bayern München's ten-match winning run in the UEFA Champions League to an end.

Early goals from Thomas Müller and Mario Götze looked to have set the holders on course for an impressive six victories from as many Group D matches. Instead David Silva's first-half response, an Aleksandar Kolarov penalty and James Milner's third turned the tables on the hosts in the second period, though ultimately it was not enough to topple the Bundesliga giants from the top of the section.

If Manuel Pellegrini's City had come to prove a point, they hardly made the most intimidating first impression. Early on, a wayward Joleon Lescott pass gave away a needless corner and their uncertainty soon told. Within five minutes Bayern were ahead as Müller hurtled through the centre to collect Dante's diagonal pass on his chest and fire clinically into the bottom corner.

It set the tone for a dominant initial phase from the German champions, who had created further chances for Franck Ribéry and Dante by the time Götze slotted in their second on 12 minutes after City had failed to deal with a corner.

Still, if Josep Guardiola's side were dreaming of another landslide similar to their 7-0 dismantling of SV Werder Bremen at the weekend, they were soon reminded of their opponents' calibre. Milner had already stung the palms of Manuel Neuer with a beautifully struck volley when he nodded Jesús Navas's cross back for Silva to reduce the arrears two minutes before the half-hour mark. Suddenly City were on the front foot.

Joe Hart had to rush out to deny Götze after an ingenious through ball from Ribéry as Bayern finished the opening period strongly, but again City picked up the pace after the restart. Edin Džeko drew an important stop from Neuer with his shot on the spin and by the hour the visitors were level as Milner went down under the challenge of Dante, allowing Kolarov to convert from the spot.

Incredibly, given Bayern's early superiority, City completed their comeback just three minutes later. A seemingly benign cross from Navas caught the entire defence flat-footed and arriving on the left was Milner, who curled confidently into the far corner. It could have been worse for Guardiola's men when Dante presented Álvaro Negredo with an opportunity late on. Neuer made the save, yet even so Bayern's record ten-match winning streak in the competition came to a halt.