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Spurs knock out City from the Champions League in a nail-biter

Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur on the night, but bowed out of the UEFA Champions League on away goals in a match that started at an insane pace with mad energy and tons of goals.

In just the first 11 minutes of the match, four goals had already been scored. The next 79 minutes saw three more goals being scored and cruelly for Manchester City, they were knocked out.

It was a historic night for Tottenham Hotspur, who took the game to Manchester City right from the outset. In fact, such was the case that initially it looked like none of the teams wanted to defend.

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Courtesy: Goal

Son Heung-min was the star for Tottenham in the first leg with the solitary goal and at the Etihad on Wednesday, he was at work again as he scored two goals in four minutes to get Tottenham in an advantageous position in the tie.

Son Heung-min scored twice while Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva found the back of the net on either side of Son’s goals to register four goals in just the first 11 minutes of the match.

That was the fastest four goals ever scored in a single Champions League match and it proved to be a spectacle that people will long talk about. 

Sterling scored City's third to put City on top at the half-way mark, after which Sergio Aguero thundered home a shot that whizzed past Hugo Lloris' near post into the net. 

But, Spurs scored the crucial away goal as Fernando Llorente rose highest to head the ball past Ederson. It looked as though the ball had touched his arm, but referee Cuneyt Cakir allowed the goal to stand, much to the dismay of Pep Guardiola and the City faithful. 

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Courtesy: The42

City were then denied a last-minute winner as Sterling's would-have-been-hat-trick was disallowed as Aguero was deemed to have been offside after he collected the ball from Bernardo Silva. 

Both City and Spurs showed relentless energy throughout the match. There was a lot of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) drama, but this was a match of epic proportions. 

This was also the first Champions League match in England to see five goals before half time since March 2005. Back then, it was Barcelona leading Chelsea 3-2 at half time at Stamford Bridge.

Raheem Sterling became the first England player to score two or more goals in a quarter-final match of the Champions League since Frank Lampard in 2009 vs Liverpool. 

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Courtesy: Man City

Manchester City have now lost all six of their previous meetings with English opponents in European competition, including all four in the Champions League.

With Spurs making it to the semi-finals, England has become the most successful country in the Champions League as seven different clubs from the country have reached the last four.

Kevin De Bruyne is the first player to deliver three or more assists in a Champions League quarter-final since Ryan Giggs achieved four assists with Manchester United against Roma in 2007.

 

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