BRAVE CITY LIFT PEP CURSE
Guardiola’s agony over as fightback finally earns him that semi-final slot
THERE were fireworks let off outside Manchester City’s team hotel on the eve of this quarter-final in an effort to unsettle Pep Guardiola’s men.
But it was City who provided them on the pitch with a Riyad Mahrez penalty and a thunderbolt from Phil Foden in Dortmund to set up a mouth-watering semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Getting past the quarterfinal stage was becoming a heavy burden to bear for manager Guardiola with his side falling in the last eight in each of the last three years.
And when teenage star Jude Bellingham put Dortmund in front after 15 minutes it looked like it might strike again.
But where in the past Guardiola’s side have given up individual errors, shown their lack of nerve and game management, here all the components clicked smoothly into gear. Dortmund manager Edin Terzic had seen enough at the Etihad to know his side could hurt City and made no changes from the XI that had pushed them so hard.
Guardiola, right, made just one change from his original lineup, Oleksandr Zinchenko instead of Joao Cancelo the one entirely understandable shift towards a more defensive mindset
City’s slight caution allowed Dortmund to set off the brighter of the two and it was Birmingham-born teenager Bellingham who put them ahead.
Emre Can had picked out Erling Haaland with a long ball, the striker getting behind John Stones on the left flank. His inside ball found its way to Bellingham via a blocked shot from Mahmoud Dahoud and, after creating space for a swing of his right boot, the teenager calmly buried his shot inside the top right corner. It was a
superb effort from a player who, this time last year, was a £145-a-week Birmingham City scholar.
It followed his first Bundesliga goal last Saturday and made him the youngest English scorer in Champions League history at 17 years and 289 days, still two months shy of his 18th birthday.
Predictably, it was also one which stung City into action. Driven by Kevin De Bruyne they forced the German side into a defensive rearguard, the midfielder riding a challenge on the edge of the area after 25 minutes and rattling the underside of the bar. Moments later Mahrez had a goal-bound effort cleared by Mateu Morey. The City winger was denied again seven minutes later after Foden kept the ball alive on the left byline and cut the ball back for him to fire goalwards. With goalkeeper Marwin Hitz beaten, who was on hand to make the block but Bellingham. The teenager, who was fired up having had a perfectly good goal disallowed in the first leg at the Etihad, covered an immense distance of ground in the first half as City pressed hard. Guardiola’s men came out in similar vein in the second half and after 53 minutes another controversial moment went in their favour.
Foden crossed from the left and Can headed the ball into his arm which was outstretched. After the penalty was awarded, VAR agreed with the referee that the handball was deliberate.
Mahrez made no mistake, beating Hitz for power and height to his left.
De Bruyne produced a superb stop from Hitz after a brilliant drive from midfield but it was Foden who ended German hopes with an arrowed effort, his sixth Champions League goal, from the corner of the area on 75 minutes.