Man City have Champions League dreams crushed again as VAR drama sees Lyon put Pep Guardiola’s hapless side to the sword
MANCHESTER CITY had their Champions League dreams crushed by VAR and an Ederson howler as Lyon ran out 3-1 winners in Portugal.
Pep Guardiola's side looked out of sorts all night and crashed out with a whimper as the Ligue 1 side marched on to the semis.
Guardiola insisted this week the friends he has made in England meant he would not consider it a failure if he did not deliver the Champions League trophy to the Etihad.
But he may need those friends an awful lot over the next few weeks after his changed system saw a clunky City crash out at the quarter-final stage AGAIN.
Left wing-back Maxwell Cornet popped up in the 24th minute and capitalised on some poor City defending to give Lyon the lead.
Kevin De Bruyne's stylish finish seemed to have started the comeback on 69 minutes.
But ex-Celtic striker Moussa Dembele came on just five minutes later and with the help of a dodgy VAR call and Ederson's clanger, his quickfire double broke City hearts.
Lyon's opener came as Fernando Marcal's long ball found Karl Toko Ekambi - who was played onside by Kyle Walker.
Eric Garcia scrambled back to make a last-ditch tackle on the edge of the area as Ederson rushed out.
But the loose ball fell to Cornet on the left corner of the box and he bent it into the net vacated by the onrushing Brazilian.
City looked out of sorts and Fernandinho was forced into a cynical trip on Arsenal target Houssem Aouar in the 29th minute as he drove through City's midfield.
His booking was the second of the game after Leo Dubois' robust challenge on Joao Cancelo in the 13th minute.
And the half continued in the same scrappy fashion as City went in one down at the break.
Sterling was the only bright spark in the full-blooded first 45 as City were limited to half chances - the best falling to Ilkay Gundogan.
Guardiola had tinkered with his formation to a 5-3-2 in what seemed like an attempt to mirror Lyon's lineup.
But it left his side lacking creativity before the break - especially with Riyadh Mahrez, Phil Foden and the Silvas - Bernardo and David - on the bench.
Guardiola could stomach it for just ten more minutes after the restart and he threw on Mahrez in place of Fernandinho who was within a whisker of a second yellow.
Rodri was booked just moments later for a late lunge on Bruno Guimarães.
Before De Bruyne came close with a 25-yard free-kick which stung Anthony Lopes' palms.
City were turning the screw and Marcelo was booked for catching Gabriel Jesus right on the edge of the box with 25 minutes left but the usually clinical De Bruyne wafted the free-kick over the bar.
The only smooth thing about the Belgian on the night seemed to be his stylish Nike boots.
That was until the 69th minute when he did what he does best.
A beautiful Mahrez chip into the left channel saw Sterling cut back on the goal line, he rolled it back to De Bruyne on the edge of the box who cooly diverted into the bottom right corner with the inside of his right.
Jesus - who was tenacious for most of the evening - missed a couple of big chances before the VAR drama came with 11 minutes to go.
A ball played through the middle saw Toko Ekambi let it run through his legs in an offside position and Dembele - who tripped Aymeric Laporte on his way through - finished past Ederson.
It seemed a no-brainer to disallow it but the VAR said no foul OR offside.
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Sterling then somehow fluffed the chance to equalise on 85 minutes as he skewed the ball over from four yards after Jesus had put it on a plate.
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And then Dembele put the nail in the coffin with just three minutes left on the clock.
Aouar stabbed a tame effort from the edge of the box at Ederson who somehow fumbled the simplest of saves and Dembele stabbed home from eight yards for his second.