23 RAHEEM TO THE RESCUE
Last-gasp Sterling winner gives Pep’s 10 men the edge
RAHEEM STERLING completed a stunning comeback in Germany last night after a VAR farce threatened to derail 10-man Manchester City’s Champions League dream.
Despite taking the lead through Sergio Aguero, two penalties within eight minutes turned the game on its head – with the first one seeing a three-minute delay while the referee consulted with the VAR official who was checking a Nicolas Otamendi handball.
The City defender was then booked, with Schalke’s Nabil Bentaleb converting the spot-kick.
And the midfielder soon made it 2-1 when Fernandinho bought down Salif Sane, despite the player being in an offside position. Otamendi was then sent off for a second yellow card in the 68th minute, before a sublime free-kick from Leroy Sane equalised, with Sterling winning it in the last minute.
City boss Pep Guardiola’s decision to field a mixed-up back-line with Aymeric Laporte at left-back and midfielder Fernandinho in the middle looked likely to bite him. Sterling made that a minor, not major, worry.
LEROY SANE and Raheem Sterling saved Manchester City’s blushes and left Schalke stunned on a controversial but thrilling night in Germany.
The City pair’s late strikes, Sane burying a free kick against his former club from 25 yards after 85 minutes to draw City level in a match that looked to have slipped from their grasp, and then Sterling winning it with a solo effort with time almost up, saw 10-man City emerge unlikely victors.
This was a breathless night in which a first-half mix-up saw Sergio Aguero put City in front, a VAR intervention saw Nicolas Otamendi adjudged to have handled for ex-Spurs midfielder Nabil Bentaleb to score from the spot.
When Fernandinho gave away another for manhandling Salif Sane at a free kick it looked like Pep Guardiola was staring down the barrel of a first Champions league defeat on German soil.
In the second half Otamendi was given a second yellow meaning both he and Fernandinho who was also booked would miss the second leg.
However, with five minutes to go, Sane fired a rocket from outside the box and Sterling grabbed the winner with the clock on 90 minutes.
The introduction of VAR was supposed to eliminate clear and obvious mistakes according to the directive issued by UEFA.
But at one stage Guardiola looked likely to be leaving Germany wondering whether its intervention had served only to highlight one of his own.
The two penalties, the first decided controversially by VAR, gave Schalke a grip of the match.
Guardiola had been happy to use Oleksandr Zinchenko to plug the hole in his squad at left-back recently but, clearly reluctant to deploy a converted midfielder here, he shifted the versatile Aymeric Laporte across and hooked Fernandinho back into the heart of his defence.
City should have gone in ahead given they put Schalke under the cosh right from the start, creating a handful of chances before eventually taking the lead after 18 minutes with a little help from their hosts. With Mark Uth flat out following a robust but legal challenge from Laporte halfway inside City’s half, the ball found its way eventually via a backpass to Schalke keeper Ralf Fahrmann. Yet undecided whether to hoof it out so his team-mate could receive attention, and with the game slowing to walking pace, he instead passed it to Salif Sane just on the edge of the area.
He was dispossessed by a quick thinking David Silva who squared the ball to Aguero to slot home. At that stage there was no sign of the turmoil to come. City were in control. Indeed they could have had at least three before the break.
It was one way traffic with City dominating possession and Domenico Tedesco’s decision to string five across his back line surrendered the midfield to City and particularly the wide areas.
Yet two contentious decisions turned the match on its head before the break as Schalke were awarded two penalties.
Daniel Caligiuri had been thoroughly tormented by Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan early on but it was his shot from just outside the area which struck Otamendi’s arm as he tried block it.
Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande initially pointed to a corner but with the Schalke players surrounding him, he eventually decided to consult VAR.
After a three-minute delay he awarded a penalty, Bentaleb keeping his cool to slot home. Eight minutes later Schalke had another when Fernandinho manhandled Sane at a free-kick, his arms around the Schalke defender’s hips clearly enough to award a spot-kick which Bentaleb again slotted home.
The controversial end to the half certainly set the tie alight but things then got worse, not better for City.
Otamendi had been simmering since his first-half handball and gave the impression the VAR controversy was still bothering him.
On 68 minutes he tussled with Guido Burgstaller near the halfway line and received a second yellow card, a decision which will have been vindicated in the referee’s mind when the defender told him exactly what he thought.
Guardiola was left with trying to salvage something from the tie on the break but with Silva having to be sacrificed in order to get Vincent Kompany on, City lost their momentum.
Then Sane’s thunderbolt pulled them level and Sterling’s last-minute winner sealed their comeback.