Mohamed Salah ensured Liverpool’s return to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in a decade as a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday took them through 5-1 on aggregate and ended Manchester City’s European dream for another season.
Manchester City was always going to need an early goal to get back into this one. A 3-0 win would have meant extra time. They got the early goal they needed. Just two minutes in, Raheem Sterling set up Gabriel Jesus right in front of goal for a fine finish.
The turning point came just before the break when Sane turned into an empty net after Loris Karius’s punch came back off his own player James Milner.
Mateu Lahoz wrongly ruled the goal out for offside, sparking City and, in particular, Guardiola’s anger.
At the start of the break Guardiola ran onto the field to pull his protesting players away from the official before embarking on his own rant at Mateu Lahoz that saw him watch the second half from the stands.
City were extremely good tonight until the moment Mo Salah produced the most savage plot twist with a devastating equaliser in the 56th minute. City jacked it in after that, their hearts broken into a thousand tiny pieces.
Roberto Firmino would then capitalize on a horror mistake from Nicolas Otamendi to make it 2-1 to Liverpool, and officially send City packing.
Liverpool were nervous as hell in the first half but they got the job done and have a serious chance of winning this competition. Their front three is as good as anything in Europe, and Virgil Van Dijk has made a huge difference to their defence.
TUESDAY, APRIL 10 RESULTS:
Manchester City 1-2 Liverpool
(Liverpool win 5-1 on aggregate)
Roma 3-0 Barcelona –
(4-4 on aggregate – Roma through on away goals)