VIDEO STARS
It’s a VAR farce but Sterling grabs late winner as 10-man City beat Schalke
Raheem SteRling saved 10- man manchester City with a 90th-minute winner after a VaR fiasco had threatened to derail their Champions league bid.
leroy Sane’s sumptuous free-kick levelled at 2-2 for City with five minutes left before Sterling kept his cool to strike at the death.
they had nicolas Otamendi sent off for two yellow cards and, along with Fernandinho, who was also cautioned, he will miss the second leg. But Pep guardiola surprisingly spoke up for the video refereeing system even after the award of two controversial first-half penalties, the first of which saw Otamendi judged to have handled in the box with City leading.
‘the penalties were penalties and the red card is a red card,’ said the City boss. ‘We gave away the goals and the red card. We gave them options to be in the game. maybe
it will end up helping us. We would have been depressed, but the result is incredible. If you give me this result before then I say, “Where do I sign?” The opponents didn’t do too much, even if they have quality to cause problems.’
VAR spent four minutes deliberating the Otamendi handball incident, with a malfunctioning pitchside monitor adding to the feeling of farce. Guardiola, however, is a staunch believer in the technology.
‘I’m a big fan of VAR,’ he insisted, referring back to last season’s quarter-final exit to Liverpool. ‘It’s a penalty. If we had VAR last season against Liverpool, then it would have all changed.
‘When a new system starts it’s like a manager. You arrive and expect to win every game 6-0. VAR needs time, they will improve. The referee told me the machine was broken. I support the initiative. The referees need help and that is VAR’s intention.’
Fernandinho would concede another penalty before half-time when he grappled with Salif Sane at a free-kick.
Guardiola did, however, suggest that the Schalke defender had been in an offside position when he was fouled.
‘Maybe it’s offside. The VAR maybe has to look better,’ City’s boss added.
Schalke coach Domenico Tedesco said: ‘We are very disappointed with the result, but we had a little bit of luck on our side.
‘It was definitely too long for the (first) VAR decision to be made, but the captains were called to the referee who explained the situation and it was a technical problem. This can happen.’
Guardiola claimed the way in which City roared back late on will stand them in good stead in their pursuit of the European crown.
He also conceded that they need to improve — even though the performance ‘ delighted’ the Catalan.
‘The way they reacted at 2-1 shows me a lot,’ he said. ‘I have no doubts about that. But you have to be conscious that it is not enough. Try to go, show me how good you are.
‘Maybe in the future, for Chelsea on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final, maybe it will help us. You have to live these situations in these competitions. Basle was fake at this stage last year, 4-0 away. That is not the reality.
‘Maybe we didn’t realise what you need to do to win games in these competitions.
‘We came away and scored three goals and reacted with 10 men. We played incredibly well. I’m delighted — but it’s not enough.
‘ We gifted goals. If that happens in another stage… important players can’t lose the ball. We are a nice team to watch. We don’t know how far we’ll get. We’re scoring an incredible amount of goals. Schalke were unbeaten.’
Guardiola implored the City fans — the majority of whom seem to loathe UEFA’s elite competition — to turn up the noise at the Etihad for the second leg.
‘We need them in the competition,’ he said. ‘I remember at Bayern Munich, these kind of games mean a lot. We cannot do it without the fans. To get to the quarters is still open. We need the support in three weeks. They can come and support like they did against Liverpool. We need it.’
Sterling said: ‘It was a really tough game. We made it difficult for ourselves at times but we stuck together, even with 10 men.’