Savinho received the ball near the right touchline and danced past Fuentes before cutting sharply inside. Instead of forcing the shot himself, he rolled the ball backward toward the edge of the area where Rodri was arriving completely free.
For a split second, the Spaniard opened his body to strike.
Then Martinelli came flying toward him.
Rodri got the shot away first.
His side-footed effort skipped low through traffic toward the bottom corner while Martinelli lunged desperately to block it. A moment later, the Fluminense midfielder crashed heavily into Rodri's standing leg.
The ball hit the net.
"GOALLL! Manchester City make it three!"
But Rodri stayed down.
The celebrations immediately lost their intensity.
The City players turned toward him almost instantly as Rodri rolled onto his side clutching at his groin area. The midfielder's face tightened in visible pain while the stadium noise dipped into nervous murmuring.
