Pep Guardiola bemoaned Raheem Sterling’s shocking miss after Manchester City were knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon.
Man City’s hopes of ending their wait for a Champions League trophy were ended by French club Lyon in the quarter-finals of the competition on Saturday evening.
Lyon went ahead in the 24th minute when Maxwel Cornet smartly slotted past City goalkeeper Ederson, but Kevin de Bruyne equalised midway through the second half.
City’s comeback was short-lived, however, as former Celtic striker Moussa Dembele restored Lyon’s lead on 79 minutes despite appearing to commit a foul in the build-up to the goal.
England star Sterling then missed an open goal with City desperately searching for an equaliser, before Lyon added a third less than a minute later to dump City out and advance to the semi-finals.
On Sterling’s miss, Guardiola said: ‘In this situation you have to equalise to take it to extra time, but then we concede the third and it’s over. We created more chances and more shots.’
The Manchester City manager added: ‘One day we will break this gap to the semis. In the first 20, 25 minutes we struggled to find spaces to attack.
‘The second half was OK – we were there. I had a feeling we were better. You have to be perfect in this competition.
‘We did a lot of good things, but it wasn’t enough. We made mistakes in the boxes in key moments. We struggled to find our spaces to attack.’
Manchester City emerged as Champions League favourites after knocking out Real Madrid but produced a disappointing performance against Lyon.
Reacting to the defeat, City star De Bruyne said: ‘It’s a different year, same stuff.
‘First half wasn’t good enough. Second half we played really well. Came back 1-1 and had couple of chances. It was then 2-1 and 3-1.
‘The second half we played well had them under pressure. We were more offensive. Even at 2-1 if Ras (Raheem Sterling) scores the goal it’s 2-2. They made it 3-1 and the game’s over.
‘Lyon didn’t really create but we need to learn.’
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