Man City bows out to Lyon in stunning Champions League upset

Man City drops their UCL quarter-final (1-3) to French underdogs Lyon.

It was a comedy of errors for the “Sky Blues” from the very beginning, as things started off on the wrong foot for Manchester City early. Lyon’s Maxwel Cornet made it 1-0 with a brilliant shot into the bottom left corner of the net in the 24th minute. The goal was reviewed, but in the end, VAR found no offsides and Lyon led 1-0 early in the first half.

A little later in the 39th minute, Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne had a promising chance off a set-piece, but Lyon’s keeper Anthony Lopes made the save. In stoppage time, Raheem Sterling made a run into the box off a cross, but his shot was deflected off a defender and was cleared away. Headed into half time, Lyon led the match 1-0.

In the 60th minute of the second half, City’s De Bruyne had another strong chance with a free-kick from about 28 meters out. However, Lyon’s keeper made the save and denies another good chance from De Bruyne and Manchester City.

About nine minutes later, Raheem Sterling produces a beautiful pass inside the box. Sterling’s pass found Kevin De Bruyne, who wasted no time, with a shot which tickled the bottom right corner of the goal netting, evening the match up at 1-1.

In the 79th minute, Lyon was able to catch the City defenders sleeping, as Moussa Dembele was able to corral a pass into medium field range. Dembele drove the ball into the middle of the net and Ederson was unable to make the save. With that Lyon went up 2-1, and the ‘Sky Blues’ or Manchester City are left with just ten minutes to rally and even up the game.

In the 86th minute, with just mere moments remaining in the match-up. Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling received a superb pass and looked to have a gaping net to score on. However, Sterling skied the ball over the crossbar and out of bounds. Just moments later, Lyon was able to get the ball back upfield and generated an odd-man rush going the other way. Moussa Dembele fired a rebound into the right corner of the net, making the game 3-1 for Lyon, and now seemingly out of reach for Manchester City.

In the 94th minute, Kevin De Bruyne produced another chance from a free-kick, although his effort was blocked by Lyon keeper Anthony Lopes, who was spectacular in this match up.
Just moments later the clock ticked closer and closer to five minutes of stoppage time, and the official eventually ended the match, with Lyon taking a 3-1 victory. The French side, who didn’t even finish in the top 7 of Ligue 1 this year, was able to get by City as 11-1 underdogs.

Big decisions to be made by Manchester City in the offseason.

Manchester City will have some serious retooling to do, as the English Premier League’s runner-up let a promising opportunity slip away from them, in this modified Champions League knock out round. City will have to make decisions quickly in a shortened offseason, before getting back to the EPL in early September.

The biggest decision to make will be concerning Pep Guardiola. The Man City manager has taken some serious heat from supporters after today’s loss. Guardiola is being criticized for his team selection, leaving Riyad Mahrez and David Silva out of the line-up. The Spanish manager has also garnered criticism for playing a ‘three at the back’ formation in what was a ‘do or die’ single-match knockout round, which left very little room for error.

Guardiola’s future was already hanging in the balance, but this disappointing and stunning upset may fast track any decisions that Manchester City may be making about the future of their manager.

Lyon will now take on German football giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, next week.