Spurs get rub of green to stun City
After an astonishing encounter at the Etihad Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur reached the semifinals of the Champions League on away goals following a 4-3 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Spurs, who won the first leg 1-0 and progressed after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate, will play Ajax Amsterdam for a place in the final against Liverpool or Barcelona after one of the most remarkable matches in the competition’s history.
It started in manic fashion with four goals in the opening 11 minutes of the game. It was a gripping spectacle right up until the dramatic finale when City had a stoppage time goal from Raheem Sterling, which would have sent them through, ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
City fans had celebrated what looked like the goal that sent them into the last four before the replay confirmed that Sergio Aguero was offside in the build-up.
“It is cruel but it is what it [the controversial decision] is and we have to accept it,” said manager Pep Guardiola.
His counterpart, Mauricio Pochettino said his team had shown all their character. “My players are heroes.”
The contest exploded into life in the fourth minute when Sterling put City in front, receiving a ball from Kevin de Bruyne on the left flank and then cutting inside onto his right foot before beating Hugo Lloris.
Three minutes later though, Spurs drew level when City’s defender Aymeric Laporte’s attempted clearance fell straight at the feet of Son Heung-min whose low shot flew in off the leg of City keeper Ederson.
Laporte was also at fault for Spurs’ second in the 10th minute when he gifted the ball to Lucas Moura, the Brazilian feeding Christian Eriksen who found Son, the brilliant South Korean finishing superbly into the far corner.
There was no respite as City responded immediately as Aguero fed Bernardo Silva and the Portuguese winger’s leftfoot shot deflected off Danny Rose to make it 2-2 on the night. The dangerous Sterling struck again in the 21st minute to level the aggregate score, ghosting in at the back post to convert a low cross from De Bruyne.
A thundering strike from Aguero in the 59th minute put City in the driving seat again.
City were stunned though in the 73rd minute when Spurs substitute Fernando Llorente bundled in a Kieran Trippier corner.