Sane and Sterling strike late on as ten-man Manchester City fight back to beat Schalke in five-goal thriller

Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling struck late on as Manchester Metropolis overcame VAR controversy and a sending off to safe a dramatic 3-2 win at Schalke.

The unfancied Germans turned the primary leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on its head once they had been awarded two penalty kicks within the opening half, the primary after a prolonged and farcical VAR stoppage.

Each had been confidently struck house by Nabil Bentaleb, cancelling out Sergio Aguero’s opener, however Sane’s gorgeous leveller towards his former membership revived Metropolis’s hopes after Nicolas Otamendi was despatched off. Sterling then stole in for a exceptional last-minute winner.

That assured Metropolis of the benefit heading into the return on the Etihad Stadium, however fallout from a conflict they had been anticipated to win comfortably may rage for a while.

The primary speaking level was Schalke’s equaliser after Otamendi was adjudged to have dealt with, with play held up for round three minutes.

It was unclear whether or not it was intentional and it additionally appeared the referee’s pitchside monitor was damaged.

It was a breathless encounter. Schalke, 14th within the Bundesliga, had largely been written off earlier than the sport and so they started as if their solely ambition was harm limitation.

Probabilities duly arrived for Metropolis with Aguero having one cost halted by Ralf Fahrmann after which having a header saved by the goalkeeper.

Kevin De Bruyne additionally drove a shot straight at Fahrmann and Aguero, wanting menacing, had one other couple of efforts deflected extensive.

Schalke contributed to their very own downfall as Metropolis grabbed the lead after 18 minutes, with David Silva robbing Salif Sane and squaring to Aguero for a easy tap-in.

De Bruyne fired at Fahrmann once more as Metropolis sought a second however the guests confirmed indicators of sloppiness as Mark Uth seized on a free ball and curled a shot extensive.

Schalke’s extremely contentious equaliser additionally got here after one other Metropolis mistake as De Bruyne misplaced possession to Weston McKennie, who then launched Daniel Caligiuri.

Caligiuri’s long-range shot was deflected extensive by Otamendi and initially a nook was given. Caligiuri, nonetheless, protested furiously that the Metropolis defender had dealt with and VAR finally agreed after a delay wherein there was a lot frustration and confusion.

Having been informed there could have been a transparent and apparent mistake, referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande ought to have had the choice to overview the incident himself.

But whereas debate raged over whether or not Otamendi’s dealing with had been intentional, it was reported the pitchside monitor was damaged and the Spanish official was informed to award the penalty.

The entire affair was farcical however Bentaleb didn’t complain. He accepted the reward and blasted house the penalty earlier than repeating the trick a couple of minutes later after Fernandinho was adjudged to have fouled Salif Sane.

Otamendi and Fernandinho had been booked over these incidents, ruling them out of the second leg even earlier than the Argentinian went on to have that rubber-stamped by getting despatched off after the break.

Sterling, De Bruyne, Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan all had good efforts early within the second half and Bernardo Silva needed a penalty however nothing was given.

Metropolis’s night time took a dramatic flip for the more serious within the 68th minute when Otamendi was booked for a second time for a poor problem on Guido Burgstaller and needed to depart the sphere.

It appeared Metropolis had been operating out of concepts when Sane, despatched on to exchange Aguero after 78 minutes, levelled with an excellent free-kick 5 minutes from time.

Metropolis had been saved and so they went on to grab it when Sterling took benefit of poor defending to grab on a protracted ball and rating.