Aguero clinches point for Manchester City in Lyon – The winners and losers from Tuesday night’s Champions League action

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Tuesday night saw the return of the Champions League, with half of the sides in this years competition playing out their penultimate group matches across Europe.

One of the games of the night came in Lyon, where Bruno Genesio’s side again got the better of Manchester City for large periods following their victory over the Premier League champions in September.

A late Sergio Aguero equaliser meant that the game eventually ended all square, but City were lucky to come away with anything in what was another hugely challenging encounter for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Elsewhere, a late Marouane Fellaini goal gave Manchester United three points against Young Boys and secured their spot in the last 16.

There were also wins for Ajax, Bayern Munich, Shakhtar Donetsk, Viktoria Plzen, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Here are the winners and losers from Tuesday’s Champions League action.

Winner: Maxwel Cornet

For a lot of Tuesday night it looked as if Cornet would be featuring as one of the losers on this list, but his second half performance made up for a series of missed opportunities in the first period.

Lyon seem to know how to get the better of Manchester City, something a lot of sides have tried and failed with throughout the last 18 months.

The Ligue 1 side dominated proceedings early on and their pressure finally paid off when Cornet opened the scoring with an excellent left-footed strike from outside the box, reminiscent of a certain Riyad Mahrez.

Aymeric Laporte equalised for City soon afterwards, but Cornet slotted home a second after being played in by Tanguy Ndombele. Sergio Aguero would go on to cancel out Lyon again, but this is a performance that Pep Guardiola won’t be entirely happy with.

Cornet has always looked a talent for Lyon but has often been overshadowed by the likes of Nabil Fekir and Memphis Depay. This performance would have caught the eye of plenty of top clubs around Europe, though, and if he can produce displays like this on a more consistent basis then he could become very, very good.

Loser: Phil Foden

Manchester City announced on Monday that Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan were among the players that wouldn’t be travelling to France for their match with Lyon because of injuries. With Kevin De Bruyne out too, many expected to see exciting England U21 international Phil Foden given a start, but that wasn’t to be the case.

Instead, Pep Guardiola opted to play just two central midfielders, with Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero all starting in attack.

Foden, 18, has made 11 appearances in all competitions so far this season and continues to excite the Manchester City faithful, but he may be wondering what he needs to do to get a start when Guardiola makes selections like this one.

Winner: Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool weren’t in action on Tuesday night and face a crucial Champions League encounter against PSG on Wednesday.

However, Manchester City’s draw in Lyon may have left Klopp and his staff feeling fairly positive about their chances of catching Guardiola’s side in the race for the Premier League title this season.

Injuries to the likes of Silva, Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus meant that Pep Guardiola had to call on the players that have been doing the business for him in the Premier League on a weekly basis.

City’s previous Champions League encounters this season have seen the likes of Aguero and Sterling rested at times, but both of them played 90 minutes on Tuesday night, as did the likes of Kyle Walker, Laporte, Fernandinho and David Silva.

This was a match of high intensity, too, with both sides doing everything they could to clinch a victory right up until the final whistle.

The Reds will be hoping that this was a match that took a lot out of Pep Guardiola’s squad ahead of the busy festive period.

Loser: Cengiz Under

Yep, we’ve seen the ‘Cengiz Over’ jokes, too. It just wasn’t the young Turk’s night in Rome on Tuesday.

The Roma forward was guilty of missing a number of chances in the first half of his side’s Group G clash with Real Madrid, but there was one that really, really stood out, before Eusebio Di Francesco’s side were made to pay by the Galacticos in the second period.

With the first 45 minutes drawing to a close, Real right-back Dani Carvajal was caught in possession deep in his side’s half, before youngster Nicolo Zaniola crossed in an inch perfect ball towards Under, who simply had to pass the ball beyond Thibaut Courtois.

Somehow, and rather ironically, Under blazed over from close range and the 21-year-old could be seen in tears as he left the pitch at half-time. Better days are on the horizon, Cengiz.

Winner: The old guard at Bayern Munich

Much has been made of the need for Bayern to freshen up their squad with some younger faces, with Niko Kovac’s experienced squad struggling so far this season, particularly in the Bundesliga.

But it was the usual suspects that stepped up for the German champions on Tuesday night, who brushed aside Benfica at the Allianz Arena.

Arjen Robben produced two classic ‘Robben-esque’ goals in the first half, with the Benfica defence unable to stop him from cutting inside and firing in with that incredible left foot. After that, talisman Robert Lewandowski got in on the act with two headers either side of half-time, before 35-year-old Franck Ribery put the icing on the cake.

This was a much needed result for Bayern, but there were still one or two signs that those underlying deficiencies persist. They conceded a lot of chances early on. The form of Robben and Lewandowski will cool the speculation surrounding the future of Kovac, but we don’t think it will be going away quite yet.

Loser: Marcus Rashford

Manchester United eventually secured their place in the Champions League knockout stages after Marouane Fellaini netted a late winner against Young Boys at Old Trafford on Tuesday, but this wasn’t really the best of nights for Jose Mourinho’s side.

One player particularly stands out after a missed chance in the first half that led to a reaction from Jose Mourinho that not many people are happy with.

Marcus Rashford was given the nod to lead the line for United, with Romelu Lukaku again having to settle for a place on the bench.

In the first half the England forward had a golden opportunity to put his side in front as he raced through on goal, only to chip his effort over the bar from outside the box. It wasn’t the easiest of opportunities, but it was one that you would perhaps expect a player of Rashford’s calibre to put away.

Mourinho reacted to the miss by turning around in disgust and staring at the rest of his coaching staff. It was a look that is likely to dishearten Rashford, who is still a young man, when he sees it after the game.

Rashford completed the 90 minutes but don’t be surprised if he’s taken out of the firing line again by Mourinho when United take on Southampton this Saturday.

Winner: David De Gea

Jose Mourinho owes this man a lot after yet another remarkable save from the Spaniard in United’s victory over Young Boys on Tuesday.

It was another lacklustre display from Mourinho’s side, with the only goal of the game coming in stoppage time, but at one point the away side looked as if they’d snatched the lead.

After something of a goalmouth scramble inside the United penalty area in the second half, the ball suddenly squirmed its way towards the goal and wrong-footed De Gea in the process.

The United goalkeeper produced a truly incredible save to keep the ball out, with many of the Young Boys players already celebrating a goal.

The ball very nearly crossed the line, but replays show that De Gea just about stopped it from doing so. Remarkable. A player that deserves better than he’s getting at Manchester United at the moment.

Loser: Hoffenheim’s forwards

Julian Nagelsmann’s face was one of pure disbelief during the second half of Hoffenheim’s clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.

His side went 2-0 down in the early stages of the first half of their Group F clash in Germany, but got themselves level thanks to strikes from Andrej Kramaric and Steven Zuber before half-time.

Striker Adam Szalai was sent off in the second period, but Hoffenheim always looked most likely to go on and win this game.

They squandered so many chances in the second period it was unbelievable. Nico Schulz and Reiss Nelson were both guilty of missing golden opportunities to put the game beyond their Ukrainian opponents.

And how did things end? Yep, you guessed it. Brazilian forward Taison scored his second goal of the game in stoppage time to Shakhtar to give them all three points and dump Nagelsmann’s side out of the competition. Football can be a cruel game.

The post Aguero clinches point for Manchester City in Lyon – The winners and losers from Tuesday night’s Champions League action appeared first on Squawka News.



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