Olympique Lyonnaise became the second French team to qualify for the UEFA Champion League semi-finals after their 3-1 victory against competition favorites, Manchester City.
Lyon started the game very well. Their pace upfront made them very dangerous on the counter and whenever they had the ball, they kept it very well. Midfielder Aouar was having a brilliant game. On the 24th minute, they got that deserved lead after Max Cornet,s clever finish past Ederson.
Manchester City began to pressure Lyon getting to the end of the first-half but Lyon were astute in their defending. Sterling was finding it difficult to find space to exploit. De Bruyne could not create decent chances for the Man City attack. Joao Cancelo was the only bright spark for Manchester City in the first-half. The half ended with Lyon leading 1-0.
Manchester City began the second-half strongly. Players like Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling began to have more influence in the game. Gabriel Jesus also got involved more in the game. Despite City's dominance, Lyon still looked dangerous on the break. However, Manchester City finally got their breakthrough in the 69th after Sterling beat his man and laid the ball to De Bruyne who finished it nicely past Lopes.
City continued piling the pressure which lead to Rudi Garcia to make a few changes. Thiago Mendes replaced Guimaraes in the 70th minute. Moments later, he substituted Leo Dubois with Kenny Tete and skipper Memphis Depay with Moussa Dembele. Pep Guardiola had already replaced Feenandinho with Riyad Mahrez in the 56th minute.
Ten minutes after the Manchester City equaliser, Lyon took the lead through Dembele. The goal was checked by VAR for a possible offside but it stood. Manchester City should have had a second goal but Sterling missed a glaring goal after he was found by Gabriel Jesus. Few minutes later, Moussa Dembele again made it 3-1 to put the tie to to bed. City tried to muster a comeback but it was going to be Lyon's night.
Despite Manchester City's dominance in possesion, Lyon were deserving winners and speaking after game, Lyon gaffer Rudi Garcia said,"Proud of my troops, proud of my players. We believed in us, that we could achieve this feat". He also spoke about Dembele and his influence on the game.
"We only conceded one goal and that is due to the team spirit of the group. Moussa was disappointed but as I said before the match, I knew he was going to be decisive when he came back. I am delighted that he scored twice as he had not yet scored in the competition."
Lyon will now face Bayern Munich in what should be a very interesting semi-final clash.
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