Manchester City 1, Lyon 3 (Champions League Quarter Final)
Manchester City were punished for defensive errors and a glaring miss as Lyon booked a place in the semi finals of the Champions League with two late goals by ex-Celtic striker Moussa Dembele.
Maxwel Cornet had already put the French into a first half lead before Kevin De Bruyne equalised in the second half.
Moussa Dembele put Lyon back into the lead after a defensive mistake by Eric Garcia who pushed up and left space behind him for the counter attack.
Raheem Sterling, who had been excellent all night, was making his 50th appearance in the Champions League tonight at the age of 25 years and 251 days – the only Englishman to reach this milestone at a younger age was Wayne Rooney in 2010 – he was 24 years, 115 days.
But he missed an open goal to level the game again from 6 yards out before Dembele pounced on an Ederson error to put the French into an unassailable lead.
It was a tie which City had been hotly tipped to win and set up a mouth watering semi final with Bayern Munich but another strange tactical setup by City manager Pep Guardiola will be hotly discussed over the summer instead.
City made just one change from the side that beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Round of 16 second leg, with defender Eric Garcia replacing Phil Foden while Benjamin Mendy returned from suspension to take a place on the bench.
Former City player Jason Denayer started for Lyon, who also had former United player Memphis Depay up front after a long spell out with an ACL injury.
But it was City’s line-up that had question marks, with Foden out of the side along with Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva on the bench as Guardiola appeared to match up with Lyon’s formation while leaving a lot of attacking talent on the side-lines.
Perhaps it was the one-legged format which made Guardiola tinker with a winning formula but City’s players seemed a bit lost playing in a new three man defence with wing-backs to match Lyon.
Pep Guardiola admits to tactical tinkering in Lyon Champions League defeat
“What we have done is try and cover our weak points in comparison with their strong points.” admitted Guardiola after the game.
“I accept that the first 25 minutes we struggled to find the spaces to attack them more fluently.” said Guardiola of the Lyon game plan which saw them go through.
The City manager would not be drawn on the VAR decision not to call back the Dembele’s first goal for a foul on Laporte, adding: “I don’t want to talk about the circumstances – it will look like I am finding excuses. We are out.”
“The team deserved to get to the semi finals. Maybe one day we will break this gap.
“The second half was ok, I had the feeling we were better but we had to be perfect.”
One thing for certain is that City will be looking to upgrade their central defensive options after City’s three-man back line failed to deal with Lyon’s twin striker threat.
Cornet put the French team into the lead with his 4th goal in 3 games against City after Lyon beat the offside trap and he lashed the ball home from outside the area to beat Ederson.
City kept plugging away and got the equaliser after 69 minutes when Raheem Sterling produced a trademark cutback from the left touchline and De Bruyne sidefooted the ball inside the back post for his 16th goal of the season.
Jesus was denied by Lopes with a diving save and the Brazilian also miscued a volley as City spurned chances to take the lead.
Ex-Celtic player Moussa Dembele went clean through after a mistake by Garcia and had a firm strike on goal which deflected off Ederson but spun into the empty net with 11 minutes to go.
VAR didn’t come to City’s rescue after a quick assessment for a foul by Dembele on Aymeric Laporte in the build-up.
Sterling had been superb throughout but spooned a fantastic square ball by Jesus over the bar with the empty net gaping barely 5 minutes from time.
And a minute later Dembele doomed City by putting in the rebound from 7 yards after Ederson spilled a shot by Houssem Aouar from the edge of the area.
It was Dembele’s fourth goal against City in three games and left City precious little time to get back into the game.
De Bruyne had a free kick saved before Kyle Walker put a header from the resulting corner wide as City’s Champions League campaign came to an end at the Quarter Final stage leaving the Champions League without an English or Spanish side in the semi finals for the first time since 1995-96.
GOALS – Manchester City 1, Lyon 3 (Champions League Quarter Final)
Man City 0, Lyon 1: 24. Maxwel Cornet put Lyon into the lead in the 24th minute after Lyon beat the offside trap and the Frenchman beat Ederson with a strike from outside the area.
Man City 1, Lyon 1: 69. Kevin De Bruyne’s sidefooted finish levelled the scores after Raheem Sterling cut the ball back from the touchline.
Man City 1, Lyon 2: 79. Moussa Dembele’s shot came off Ederson but the City goalkeeper could only watch as the ball span into the empty net.
Man City 1, Lyon 3: 87. Moussa Dembele was there to tap in the rebound from 7 yards after Ederson spilled
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 1, Lyon 3 (Champions League Quarter Final)
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Garcia, Fernandinho (C) (Mahrez 56), Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri (David Silva 84), Gundogan, De Bruyne, Sterling, Jesus
Man City Subs not used: Bravo, Stones, Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva, Mendy, Otamendi, Foden, Doyle, Palmer, Bernabe
Booked: Fernandinho, Rodri
Goal: De Bruyne 69
Lyon: Lopes, Dubois (Tete 75), Denayer, Marcelo, Marcal, Cornet, Caqueret, Guimares (Mendes 70), Aouar, Toko Ekambi (Reine-Adelaide 87), Memphis (Dembele 75)
Lyon Subs not used: Tatarusanu, Diomande, Andersen, Rafael, Traore, Jean Lucas, Bard, Cherki
Booked: Dubois, Marcelo
Goals: Cornet 24; Dembele 79, 87
Referee: Danny Makkellie