UEFA Champions League Lives Up To Billing As Man. City Crashes Out
by AIT / 3 months ago / Sports
The UEFA champions league lived up to its billing as arguably the most glamorous club football competition in the world on Wednesday as the quarterfinals matches were concluded.
It was a mixture of frustration, excitement, celebration and agony at the two-match centres on the night particularly at the Etihad Stadium as the Video Assistant Referee, VAR was put to effective use.
English premier league champions, Manchester City crashed out of the tournament on the away goal rule after a scintillating seven-goal thriller on the night which ended four three in their favour.
Haven lost one nil in the first leg at the new Tottenham hotspurs stadium, last week, the citizens needed to beat their opponents by at least two goals to scale through.
The Pep Guardiola side got off to a bright start with Raheem Sterling finding the back of the net within the first four minutes of play, the lead lasted for just three minutes as Heung Min Son levelled scores for the visitors and added another four minutes later to raise nerves at the Etihad.
City restored parity almost immediately through Bernardo Silva and ten minutes later Raheem Sterling scored again to give the citizens a three-two advantage at half time.
The second half produced the same spark as the first but with little to show in terms of goals.
On the hour mark, Sergio Aguero increased city's lead to two goals with a breath-taking strike that would have seen the citizens through if the encounter ended four two.
There was another twist to the match fourteen minutes later as Fernando Llorente deflected Keiran Trippier's cross from a corner kick into the net for Tottenham's third goal of the night.
The centre referee needed to consult the VAR for the goal to count.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino hailed his team as "heroes" after the match.
It wasn't the same for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola who described the results as cruel.
The two teams meet once again in the premier league in the same stadium on Saturday afternoon as Guardiola's men seek to climb back to the top of the table with their game in hand over Liverpool.
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