Basel sink Pep
Gabriel’s back but City shocked
PEP GUARDIOLA’S Manchester City crashed to an embarrassing Etihad defeat last night.
But despite the shock of losing to Basel they still completed the formality of booking their place in the Champions League last-eight, courtesy of their first-leg 4-0 cruise.
And they did at least enjoy the bonus of seeing Gabriel Jesus mark his first start this year with a goal.
The Brazilian has missed a chunk of the season with a knee injury and has been eased back with a series of substitute appearances. But he was in from the off last night and responded with a tap-in after just eight minutes.
City’s lead did not last long though with Mohamed Elyounoussi equalising just nine minutes later.
And they crashed to only their fourth defeat of the season when the same player cut the ball back for Michael Lang to net the winner.
STUNNED Manchester City lost a home game for the first time in more than a year but still strolled into the quarterfinals.
Gabriel Jesus left Basel needing a miracle at the Etihad Stadium, putting City five ahead on aggregate in the eighth minute.
But although Pep Guardiola’s men dominated possession throughout, strikes from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Michael Lang gave Basel an unexpected victory.
City headed into this second-leg clash overflowing with confidence and Guardiola was so confident of going through that he made six changes to the side that beat Chelsea last weekend.
Teenage sensation Phil Foden made just his third start, while Yaya Toure was given a rare run-out and Claudio Bravo, John Stones, Danilo and Gabriel Jesus all returned.
Guardiola could afford to leave Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker on the bench.
The visitors made five changes with boss Raphael Wicky dropping both of his leading scorers, former Norwich ace Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Albian Ajeti.
Charged
City were quick out of the blocks and soon Jesus was celebrating his resurrection from knee ligament damage with his first goal since November.
Leroy Sane charged across the Basel defence and slipped the ball to Bernardo Silva, who picked out the unmarked Jesus for the simplest of finishes.
Blas Riveros did well to stop Silva from making it 2-0 moments later before Tomas Vaclik denied Ilkay Gundogan as the home onslaught continued.
It looked like City were going to run up a cricket score but Basel dug in and started troubling them on the break.
Raphael Wicky’s men had nothing to lose after all and stunned home fans by levelling on the night in the 17th minute.
Danilo went missing on the right, allowing Riveros to find Elyounoussi in acres of space and he beat Bravo with a clinical finish to make it 1-1.
Guardiola was looking agitated on the sidelines as his defence continued to go AWOL.
Elyounoussi could have scored again on the half-hour when he found himself with just Bravo to beat but somehow managed to trip himself up just as he was about to pull the trigger.
It was a wake-up call for the home side, who were struggling to get out of second gear.
Basel then took the lead on the night in the 71st minute when Lang smashed an unstoppable shot past Bravo at his near post. MAN CITY (4-3-3): Bravo; Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; Gundogan (Diaz 66), Toure, Foden (Adarabioyo 89); B Silva, Jesus, Sane. Subs: Ederson, Walker, Aguero, De Bruyne, Otamendi. BASEL (3-4-3): Vaclik; Suchy, Frei, Lacroix; Lang, Serey Die, Zuffi, Riveros; Bua (Stocker 68), Oberlin (Van Wolfswinkel 73), Elyounoussi. Subs: Salvi, Ajeti, Manzambi, Petretta, Kaiser. Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic).