Pep promises to eventually bridge the gap

PEP GUARDIOLA last night vowed to keep hunting Champions League glory with Manchester City after his side were dumped out by Lyon.

City imploded late on as two goals from former Celtic striker Moussa Dembele sandwiched an astonishing close-range miss by Raheem Sterling.

Sterling’s howler — when he fired over an open goal from five yards — was followed 59 seconds later by an uncharacteristic error from Ederson that gifted Dembele his second and saw City exit in the quarter-finals for the third straight season.

But Guardiola insisted: ‘One day we will break this gap. The second half was okay, I had a feeling we were better but you have to be perfect in these competitions.

‘I don’t want to talk about the circumstances (of Dembele’s first goal), it looks like I’m complaining or finding excuses. We are out.

‘We did a lot of good things and in the end it was not enough.

‘We made mistakes in both boxes at key moments and that’s why we are out.

‘We scored a magnificent goal but unfortunately we missed another one. You have to be perfect, you cannot make mistakes.

‘We are disappointed. We now go on holidays. Then we have to lift the players when they return to the club again.’

Guardiola (right) is yet to get past the final eight in four attempts with City having also lost in the last 16 in 2016-17.

De Bruyne told BT Sport: ‘We need to learn. It’s not good enough and that’s it.

‘Different year, same stuff. The first half wasn’t good enough, we started slow but in the second half we played really well.

‘In the second half we played well and had them under pressure. We played more offensive like we normally do.

‘At 2-1 if Raz (Sterling) scores it’s 2-2 and the game goes on. That’s football, it’s fine margins. They made it 3-1 and the game is over.’

The Belgium star also refused to blame the officials after Dembele’s first was allowed to stand despite the striker appearing to foul Laporte.

He added: ‘I have no idea, I haven’t seen it back. Whatever they decide, they decide. I’m not going to blame that. We should have done better.’

While it was agony for City, two-goal hero Dembele can’t wait to face German champions Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s semi-final.

‘We are still in it, which means we have a great team,’ said the former Parkhead favourite.

‘We are taking it game by game, not getting carried away. We will try to be ready for Bayern.’

Lyon coach Rudi Garcia added: ‘I’m very proud of my players. We were not favourites but believed in ourselves.

‘Above all our success was down to our team spirit.’