Red Star Belgrade (Crvena zvezda) took a shock lead at the Etihad Stadium against Manchester City, and as fans blamed Erling Haaland for missing sitter Julian Alvarez bailed City out

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Red Star Belgrade ( Crvena zvezda ) left the Etihad Stadium in stunned silence when they opened the scoring against defending European champions Manchester City.

City had dominated the game on Tuesday evening, with Omri Glazer the man of the hour for the Serbians. Pep Guardiola's side had peppered the goal - with Erling Haaland missing two glorious chances. While Nathan Ake and Julian Alvarez had both tested the shot-stopper without finding the net.

Meanwhile, the Serbian side had barely challenged Ederson, and they were penned in their penalty area. That was until the final minute of the half, when Osman Bukari was slipped through on goal.

Bukari showed his immense composure to sit Ederson down before calmly lifting the ball over the Brazilian. However, his celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.

City breathed a sign of relief, unaware the replays showed Ruben Dias had played Bukari onside. And a VAR check confirmed their worst fears, as Crvena zvezda took the lead.

"Haaland missing loads of chances again tonight. So you know what'll happen on Saturday," one fan joked. While a second shared: "Haaland will very likely score tonight, but he's missing a few too many big chances..."

"Haaland I’ve always backed you but please convert the chances keep coming your way," a third fumed. And another added: "Absolute classic! How does every team score with their first attempt after we batter them? Haaland should be in triple figures for city if he could take half the chances he gets..."

It was Haaland's strike partner Alvarez that fired City level, as he played a one-two with the Norwegian and calmly slotted the past Glazer.