City recovers to pip Schalke
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany: Tenman Manchester City staged a dramatic comeback, as late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling secured it a 32 win at Schalke 04 in their Champions League round of 16 first leg match yesterday that put the English side in the driving seat.
Substitute Sane scored against his former club with a sensational free kick in the 86th minute and Sterling grabbed a 90th minute winner after Nabil Bentaleb converted two spot kicks in the 38th and 45th minutes in Schalke’s own comeback.
Sergio Aguero had given City the lead after 18 minutes and the English champion was left with 10 men in the 68th minute when Nicolas Otamendi was sent off following a second booking.
City, which has conceded at least two goals in six of its seven games in the Champions League knockout stages under Pep Guardiola, will also be without yellowcarded Fernandinho for the return leg in Manchester on March 12.
‘‘We know that we will get our scoring chances and most of the times we use them,,’’ scorer Leroy Sane, a product of Schalke’s youth academies, told reporters.
‘‘I was a bit lucky that the goal goes in from that position. We did not find it easy to settle in the game and we struggled to find spaces.’’
Argentine Aguero, who netted two hattricks in his previous three premier league games, scored with a simple tapin after a pass from keeper Ralf Faehr mann was intercepted.
City completely overran the Germans at the start but instead of scoring again, it inexplicably fell back, allowing Schalke to come forward.
The Royal Blues were rewarded when a handball earned Otamendi a booking and the host a spot kick that Algeria international Bentaleb converted.
Schalke then went ahead seven minutes later after earning another penalty when Fernandinho clumsily brought down Schalke’s Salif Sane.
To make matters worse for City, Otamendi was sent off with a second booking in the 68th minute to take any pace left out of City’s game before Leroy Sane’s missile saved the day for the English side.
Sterling then slipped into the box late in the game to grab victory with a dramatic winner.
In the other match yesterday, Atletico Madrid took a huge advantage in its heavyweight last16 tie with Juventus, earning a 20 home win thanks to late goals from Uruguayan defenders Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin in a tense, incidentpacked game. — Reuters