City survive epic see-saw skirmish
SHOWSTOPPER: EIGHT-GOAL ENCOUNTER AT ETIHAD
Hosts score three goals in 19 minutes, standing ovation for Aguero.
Manchester
Sergio Aguero starred as Manchester City beat Monaco 5-3 in a breathless and dizzyingly end-to-end Champions League last 16 first-leg encounter at a rocking Etihad Stadium last night.
Raheem Sterling put City ahead, only for Kylian Mbappe to level and Radamel Falcao to score twice – the second goal a magnificent chip – as Leonardo Jardim’s side moved into a 3-2 lead.
But City struck three times in the last 19 minutes, through Aguero’s second goal, John Stones and Leroy Sane (pictured), to put Pep Guardiola’s men in charge ahead of the return leg on March 15.
For a long time it looked likely to be a scarring night for City, who reached the semifinals last season, as a succession of calamitous defensive errors allowed Monaco to take control.
But Aguero’s doggedness allowed them to haul themselves back into the game, abetted by Falcao’s failure to convert a penalty early in the second period.
Having recently lost his place in the team to Gabriel Jesus, only to regain it after the Brazilian broke his foot, it was a personal triumph for Aguero, who departed to a standing ovation.
In last night’s other game, Atletico Madrid closed in on a place in the quarterfinals after winning 4-2 away to Bayer Leverkusen.
Saul Niguez and Antoine Griezmann scored to put the Spanish side two goals up at the interval, but Leverkusen pulled one back through Karim Bellarabi at the start of the second half.
A Kevin Gameiro penalty then restored Atletico’s two-goal advantage, and while a Stefan Savic own goal gave Leverkusen hope again, Fernando Torres came off the bench to make it 4-2 late on.
The sides meet in the second leg in Spain on March 15. – AFP