Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 5y

Aymeric Laporte's nightmare sees Man City bounced from UCL, Quadruple dream die

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City were knocked out of the Champions League by Tottenham Hotspur on away goals rule on a dramatic night at the Etihad Stadium. Raheem Sterling thought he had won the tie with a winner in injury time but the goal was ruled offside via the Video Assistant Referee and despite winning the game, 4-3, City go out at the quarterfinal stage.

Positives

It's difficult to take too many positives from the match as City crashed out of Europe in such a devastating way. There is an argument that their exit will now focus minds on a domestic clean sweep. City now have five Premier League matches and an FA Cup final remaining, and six victories will mean a Treble and a largely successful season. Pep Guardiola will demand nothing less and it starts Saturday with a chance for revenge against this Tottenham side.

Negatives

The Quadruple dream has ended and the manner of the defeat will be draining for the City players. But any side that concedes three goals at home will find it difficult to be crowned the best in Europe. Aymeric Laporte has been City's Mr. Reliable this season, starting virtually every Premier League and Champions League match, but on the big occasion, he made two major blunders and a host of other small errors.

Manager rating out of 10

7 -- Pep Guardiola called for a big atmosphere from the fans and he got what he wanted -- although it may have been a little more than he expected as City got over-excited in a crazy opening 11 minutes. He decided to go with the experience of Vincent Kompany at centre-back and Ilkay Gundogan in the holding midfield role, and City found it tough to remain composed in the early stages. The Catalan obviously told his players to keep their composure in the second half, and they pushed the visitors back for much of it. Brought on Fernandinho as soon as City were ahead on the night to give City more control, but Spurs still found a way through.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Ederson, 6 -- Couldn't stop Son's opener as he dove the wrong way but had little chance with his brilliant second.

DF Kyle Walker, 7 -- Some dynamic runs going forward but had his problems with the threat of Son on the counterattack.

DF Vincent Kompany, 7 -- Faced a big test against the speed of Lucas Moura and looked far more comfortable when Fernando Llorente came on. One brilliant last-ditch tackle to stop Son.

DF Aymeric Laporte, 3 -- Two disastrous mistakes were ruthlessly punished by Spurs. His worst performance since he joined the club.

DF Benjamin Mendy, 7 -- Looked a little nervous on occasion in his battle with Christian Eriksen but settled down and was mostly solid defensively.

MF Ilkay Gundogan, 8 -- After the frantic opening, the German international was the one to gain the composure and settle City down.

MF Kevin De Bruyne, 9 -- Two brilliant assists, the first a stunning pass and the second a devastating run.

MF David Silva, 6 -- Flitted around close to Sergio Aguero, he made some nice touches but couldn't make a crucial impact.

FW Raheem Sterling, 9 -- Scored a fantastic opener, kept his cool for his second and kept his composure for what he thought was his hat trick and the winner.

FW Sergio Aguero, 8 -- Linked up the play nicely and when his chance finally came, he made no mistake, beating Hugo Lloris at his near post.

FW Bernardo Silva, 8 -- Danny Rose couldn't cope with his skill and agility, although he got a bit lucky with his goal.

Substitutes

MF Fernandinho, 7 -- Made some key tackles to stop Spurs' breaks.

FW Leroy Sane, N/R -- Couldn't force a fifth goal.

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