After an astonishing encounter at the Etihad Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur reached the semi-finals of the Champions League on away goals following a 4-3 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday. Spurs, who won the first leg 1-0 and progressed after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate, will play Ajax Amsterdam for a place in the final against Liverpool or Barcelona after one of the most remarkable matches in the competition’s history. Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino predicted the meeting with the exciting and young Dutch side would be an “open and exciting game” but it will take something for it to offer more entertainment than this non-stop wave of drama and emotions. It started in manic fashion with four goals in the opening 11 minutes of the game. It was a gripping spectacle right up until the dramatic finale when City had a stoppage time goal from Raheem Sterling, which would have sent them through, ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
City fans had celebrated what looked like the goal that sent them into the last four before the replay confirmed that Sergio Aguero was offside in the build-up. It was a perfect example of the benefits of using technology but it was also hard on Pep Guardiola’s side who had been the stronger over the 90 minutes.
The contest exploded into life in the fourth minute when Sterling put City in front, receiving a ball from Kevin De Bruyne on the left flank and then cutting inside onto his right foot before beating Hugo Lloris with a beautiful, curling shot into the far corner. Three minutes later though, Spurs drew level when City’s French defender Aymeric Laporte’s attempted clearance fell straight at the feet of Son Heung-min whose low shot flew in off the leg of City keeper Ederson. Laporte was also at fault for Spurs’ second in the 10th minute when he gifted the ball to Lucas Moura, the Brazilian feeding Christian Eriksen who found Son, the brilliant South Korean finishing superbly into the far corner.
Struck again: There was no respite as City responded immediately as Aguero fed Bernardo Silva and the Portuguese winger’s left-foot shot deflected off Danny Rose and beat the wrong-footed Lloris to make it 2-2 on the night. The dangerous Sterling struck again in the 21st minute to level the aggregate score, ghosting in at the back post to convert a low cross from De Bruyne that had zipped across the face of the goal. A thundering strike from Aguero in the 59th minute put City in the driving seat again – the Argentine blasting in at Lloris’s near post after a magnificent burst forward and perfectly weighted and timed pass from De Bruyne. City, who went out at the same stage to Liverpool last season, were stunned though in the 73rd minute when Spurs substitute Fernando Llorente bundled in a Kieran Trippier corner to restore the London club’s advantage through away goals.
With officials unsure if the ball had bounced off the Spaniard’s hand or rolled off his hip in the goalmouth scramble, VAR was called into action and the goal stood for Spurs – a decision Guardiola questioned after the game. Then came the stoppage time video torture for the home support – Aguero burst down the right flank and delivered a low cross for Sterling to slot home what would have been his hat-trick goal. The VAR call was correct and the Premier League champions were out – to the delight of Pochettino and his players who celebrated wildly in front of the travelling Spurs support.