Manchester City Vs Lyon

 Match Review





1. Lyon breaks the deadlock by keeping City at bay : 

It was a very surprising fact that Pep's men did not create any chances despite having the majority of the ball. The French side was able to take advantage of City's defense and it was very surprising that the former Barca boss went for 3 defenders at the back. To everyone's surprise, Rudi Garcia's men opened the scoring when Marcal launched a long ball towards Ekambi who cleared the offside trap. Garcia's tackle was well executed but the ball fell into Cornet's feet as he curled the shot towards the back of the net to give his side the lead. 


There were little celebrations as the goal was immediately taken upstairs for a review and after checking the goal was awarded. Surprisingly, City did not create any clear cut chances in the first half. The only chance they created was when Sterling dribbled past Cornet to set-up for Rodrigo who shot from a tight angle and lopes managed to save after making an error initially. It looks like a 3 man defense does not suit Pep Guardiola's men as Lyon could cause a major upset. 



2. KDB pulls back for his side : 

Rudi Garcia's men showed resilience after breaking the deadlock by keeping Pep's men at bay. The Citizens have struggled to play free-flow football as the French side kept closing on them and not giving them any kind of space to them. The Belgium man was not at his usual best apart from a cracking ball he delivered to Sterling. City has struggled to play their usual game as Lyon was giving them a hard time. By keeping KDB at control, the Premier League side wasn't able to create any chances. Lyon's resilience was finally broken when Mahrez found Sterling towards the left as the former Liverpool winger waited for the right moment to slip the ball towards KDB and the Belgium star player struck a well timed shot towards the net. Lopez was finally beaten as City equalized.





3. Lyon takes the lead again: 

All looked well for City as they slowly began to gain their momentum. The introduction of Dembele stunned everyone. Out of nowhere, Aouar split City's high press by passing towards Ekambi who let it slip for Dembele as he dashed towards the box and scored through Ederson's leg. VAR was called into action to review it as they were looking whether the ball touched Ekambi's feet before reaching Dembele. The review was over and the goal was given. Looks like the quarter-final curse in the Champions League is going on for City. 



4. Sterling misses a sitter and Dembele sends City packing home:

It was an absolute blunder to miss an easy chance by Sterling. Jesus slipped the ball towards Sterling and all he had to do was click the ball into the net and made one of the greatest missed in the history of the game. Aouar suddenly struck the ball towards Ederson who made a poor touch and the substitute gave the nail in the coffin as he scored from the rebound and sent Pep back to Manchester. 







Overall, the French side truly deserved to win this contest. Rudi Garcia's tactics proved to be successful against the Citizens. Lyon opened the scoring when Marcal launched a long ball towards Ekambi who was tackled by Garcia only for the ball to fall in Cornets' feet and scored to give his side the lead. Pep's men did manage to equalize when Sterling set-up well for KDB as he scored. It looked like Mahrez's substitution made the difference. Out of the blue, Aouar split City's backline as he passed the ball towards Ekambi which was left untouched to let it slip through Dembele who came onto the field and scored the goal. 






VAR came into action to review and the goal was awarded. The Citizens squandered their chance to equalize when Sterling missed a sitter. City was done and dusted when Aouar's shot was saved by Ederson's who made a poor touch which was rebounded by Dembele to send Pep's men out of the competition. Overall, it was unnecessary experimentation by Guardiola to play a 3 man defense at this stage of the completion which cost him. Lyon progressed to semi-finals and will face Bayern Munich again after 10 years as these two sides met back in 2010 and coincidentally faced each other in semis. 








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