Manchester City pulled off a stunning victory in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Schalke, coming back from 2-1 down after going down to 10 men thanks to Nicolas Otamendi’s second yellow card in the 68th minute.
Former Schalke star Leroy Sane’s superb free-kick to level the scores set up Raheem Sterling’s injury-time winner as City ambushed their hosts to take control of the tie before the home leg next month.
Sane’s moment of brilliance illuminated a fiercely-contested and at times contentious game – here’s a look at the talking points.
SANE RETURNS TO HAUNT SCHALKE
The script was set up perfectly. Almost even more so when Sane was left out of the starting XI – the only thing worse than a former player coming back to haunt you is when he does it late in the game off the bench.
It was a stunning free-kick from Sane to grab an equaliser against the team where he started off his professional career. Sane is a City player because of the potential he showed in two years at Schalke, and there was no doubt a sense of trepidation around the stadium when he came on as a substitute, and an even greater one when he stood over the ball weighing up his options.
Sane has had a strange last year or so, starting with the shock exclusion from Germany’s World Cup squad. He was one of the stars of City’s campaign last season, and being named PFA Young Player of the Year was a richly-deserved accolade. But this season began with questions over his attitude from both club and country, and he lost his place as an automatic starter for City.
So of course it would take a trip home and a dramatic intervention against his former side to remind everyone of his quality. Is that goal the start of Sane revitalising his career?
Leroy Sane
DEFENCE NOT WORKING FOR GUARDIOLA
Pep Guardiola has spent roughly £230 million on five frontline defenders – Danilo, Benjamin Mendy, Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker, and John Stones – during his time as Man City manager. Yet City have conceded 15 goals in seven Champions League knockout games under the Spaniard, managing a clean sheet just once.
Of his recruits, only Laporte can be considered an unqualified success from a defensive perspective. Walker and Mendy are both good attacking full-backs who can be caught out defensively. Stones is an excellent defender on his day but can be mistake-prone, and is often injured. Danilo is an expensive back-up.
Guardiola’s commitment to attacking football is admirable. Recruiting defenders who fit his philosophy is a natural result. And at City, it’s sealed one Premier League title in record-setting fashion, with a second consecutive league triumph potentially on the way.
But the Champions League is the holy grail for the City. And for all of Guardiola’s brilliance and success, he hasn’t won this tournament since 2011 – and he’s never won it unless Lionel Messi has been in his team. That’s despite the dominant teams he’s created at Bayern Munich and then in Manchester.
At some point, he needs to realise that when it comes to that particular goal, something isn’t working.
VAR DEBATE KICKS OFF AGAIN
This game highlighted the pros and cons of VAR perfectly. The first two goals were both reviewed, and though the first went off without a hitch the second was highly contentious.
There were two issues with that particular decision: firstly, whether it was indeed a penalty against Nicolas Otamendi, and secondly, why it took so long for the referee to make the final call.
Handball will often be debatable. The rule states that if the hand is an unnatural position and an advantage is gained as a result, it’s a foul, regardless of intent. And that will almost always depend on an individual referee’s interpretation, even when VAR is involved – decisions are ultimately made by human referees.
VAR’s main purpose is to eliminate howlers. It won’t get rid of debates over 50-50 calls.
But the delay in making the call was definitely doesn’t help VAR’s case. A game simply cannot be put on hold for that long while a decision is made.
Apparently, the pitch-side monitors malfunctioned, which meant the referee had to rely purely on the VAR officials rather than seeing the replay himself. That sort of situation is unforgivable. Surely the technology in use for a game is tested before kick-off? Or there should be a back-up monitor?
Debatable calls will never go out of the game, but technical errors derailing the use of technology is unacceptable.
