City survive scare to put Bellingham and Co out

MANCHESTER CITY survived an early scare to see off Borussia Dortmund and reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time under Pep Guardiola.

A superb strike from the outstanding Jude Bellingham saw the German side level their quarter-final tie after 15 minutes of the second leg at Signal Iduna Park.

City responded in the second half with a penalty from Riyad Mahrez and a fine effort from Phil Foden to win 2-1 on the night and progress 4-2 on aggregate.

The result ended City’s run of quarter-final frustration having gone out at the last-eight stage in each of the previous three years.

Dortmund, who were aggrieved to have a goal disallowed in the first leg, felt the penalty award for handball against Emre Can was harsh but City, who also hit the woodwork through Kevin De Bruyne, were dominant overall.

City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, speaking to BT Sport, said on reaching the Champions League semi-finals: “It means a lot to be honest, this club and this team deserve it. We are grateful for being in a great competition and reaching the semi-finals for the first time.

“Today once again we showed character, we didn’t play well at all in the first 15 minutes, we were scared to lose something. That was obvious. After conceding the first goal we were able to get hold of possession and create chances. Our target was to score the first goal of the second half and get the game back into our hands. That’s exactly what we did.”