Late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling gave Manchester City a 3-2 win at Schalke 04 in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday that put the English side in the driving seat.
Substitute Sane scored against his former club with a sensational free kick in the 86th after Nabil Bentaleb converted two spot kicks in the 38th and 45th minutes to put Schalke ahead.
Sergio Aguero had given City the lead in the 18th and the English champions were left with 10 men in the 68th minute when Nicolas Otamendi was sent off following a second booking.
Manchester City (4-3-3)
Ederson - 6
Could only watch the chaos unfold in front of him – nothing the goalkeeper could do.
Kyle Walker – 5
Grew into the game in the second half but might have looked to overlap Bernardo Silva more often.
Fernandinho – 5
Gave away a soft penalty and struggled to cope during an astonishing end to the first half.
Nicolas Otamendi – 4
In disarray after the controversial handball. Unlucky to concede the penalty but then saw red.
Aymeric Laporte - 5
Looks lost at left back. Isn’t comfortable out there and City miss his authority in the middle.
Kevin De Bruyne – 5.5
The one who tried to take it by the scruff of the neck after half-time but lacked an end product.
Ilkay Gundogan - 5
Strangely off colour. Too loose in possession and didn’t really ghost into pockets as he has recently.
David Silva – 6
His pressing forced the opening goal but gave away a daft free-kick in the build-up to Schalke’s second.
Bernardo Silva - 7
Was a little bit quiet out on the right but then burst into life as they chased the eventual equaliser.
Sergio Aguero - 7
Was City’s most dangerous threat all evening and had a real tenacity to his game. Guilty of trying too hard though.
Raheem Sterling – 7
A very difficult night but players of his quality have a habit of producing when it matters most.
Subs
Vincent Kompany (for D Silva, 70) – 6
Leroy Sane (for Aguero, 78)
Aleks Zinchenko (for De Bruyne, 87)
Subs not used: Muric, Danilo, Mahrez, Foden
Manager: Pep Guardiola – 5
Cut a frustrated figure for a number of reasons. Most of all, the majority of his players did not perform.
Ref: Carlos Del Cerro Grande – 5
Even though it was not his fault, the referee is the face of VAR. And it took too long
Schalke (5-4-1)
Fahrmann 6; Caligiuri 7, Bruma 5.5, S Sane 6.5, Nastasic 5.5, Oczipka 6; McKennie 7.5 (Skrzybski 77), Serdar 8, Bentaleb 7.5, Mendyl 7 (Burgstaller 65, 6); Uth 7
Subs not used: Nubel, Rudy, Matondo, Kutucu, Harit
Manager: Domenico Tedesco 6