- Sergio Aguero scores two late goals to turn defeat in to victory for Manchester City against Bayern Munich
- The win keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages
- Aguero had given City a first-half lead from the penalty spot as Mehdi Benatia was sent off for a professional foul
- Bayern Munich led at half-time and until the 85th minute after goals from Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski
- City travel to Roma for their final group game on Wednesday, December 10 knowing a win will seal qualification
Sometimes,
it doesn’t have to make sense, you know. It just is what it is. By some
miracle of mathematics and against all logic, Manchester City are still
in Europe.
Not
just in, but very much contenders to qualify. A scoring draw in Rome
could do it. A win almost certainly would, unless CSKA Moscow defeat
Bayern Munich away.
The
Last Chance Saloon that has been City’s local almost since this group
began remains open. How, frankly, heaven knows? It is one of those
concepts, inexplicable to the layman, like black holes or universal
infinity.
City
were outplayed by 10 men for much of the game, scored two late goals,
beat Bayern and are now in reach of the last 16, despite being bottom of
the table. Perhaps that nice Dr Brian Cox can explain it.
VIDEO Scroll down to watch Sportsmail's player ratings: Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
Sergio Aguero runs away in celebration after sealing victory and his hat-trick with a last-minute strike against Bayern Munich
Aguero had made it 2-2 just minutes earlier as he capitalised on a mistake from Bayern midfielder Xabi Alonso
What
misery would befall this team without Sergio Aguero though? He has
somehow kept this European campaign alive with five goals in as many
games. The rest of this expensively assembled squad will not like to
hear it, but City are the one-man team of this season. Aguero is every
bit as important to them as Luis Suarez was to Liverpool last year or
Gareth Bale to Tottenham Hotspur the year before.
His
hat-trick here is his first in Europe for them, and it needed three
horrid mistakes by Bayern Munich to make it happen, but that takes
nothing from the scorer. He won a penalty, converted it, and then took
two chances, one on one, against arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the
world, Manuel Neuer.
Munich
were at full stretch having been a man down since the 21st minute, but a
red card was the correct call and it still required Aguero to stay ice
cold under pressure to make those chances count. By the third time of
asking, no thermometer was required to read his temperature as he shaped
up for the winner.
For
City, it was also a night of unlikely phenomena, and stars in accord
around them. Everything went their way. Even before kick-off, news came
through of CSKA Moscow’s last-minute equaliser against Roma, a goal that
meant City could not be eliminated, even in defeat. Had there been a
winner in that game, City would have needed to beat Bayern Munich or go
out; instead they played with that pressure removed.
They
already had the advantage of the Germans having won the group before
the game started — the Moscow draw did that for them, too — and then, in
the 21st minute, a double whammy of a penalty and a red card for
Munich’s Medhi Benatia stacked the odds further in City’s favour.
Having
then made hard work of it, conceding two goals and still trailing with
five minutes to go, City then benefited from the most unlikely
phenomenon — a misplaced pass from Xabi Alonso. Pitch perfect for the
rest of the game, a square one ball from the Spaniard was cut out,
allowing City’s equaliser.
In
the last minute, a lapse in control by German World Cup winner and
former City defender Jerome Boateng, handed them victory. It is fair to
say they got the breaks.
Did
they deserve them? Hardly. The best that can be said is they never gave
up, Aguero and the mighty Frank Lampard in particular. Munich were the
better team, particularly as they had 10 men and nothing to play for
beyond pride, but that memory will not trouble City greatly if the job
is finished in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Bayern's Moroccan defender Mehdi
Benatia slides in on Sergio Aguero with the Manchester City striker
through on goal and in the box
Aguero appeals for a penalty as he is upended by Benatia, who made no contact with the ball
Benatia appeals in vain as he is shown a red card in tby Czech referee Pavel Kralovec to hand the advantage to Man City
Aguero opts to side-foot his penalty as Bayern's Xabi Alonso (left) and Jerome Boateng hope to capitalise on any rebound
Aguero sends the ball sailing to the left-hand post of Bayern's German international goalkeeper Manuel Neuer
Aguero wheels away in celebration after giving Manchester City a 1-0 lead against the 10 men of Bayern Munich
Aguero is congratulated by his City team-mates - led by captain Vincent Kompany - after he put the home side in the driving seat
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP E TABLE... AND WHAT CITY NEED TO DO TO GO THROUGH (IT'S CONFUSING!)
WHAT WE KNOW...
- If CSKA Moscow lose to Bayern and Man City beat Roma, City go through.
- If CSKA Moscow draw and Man City win, then City also go through.
- If CSKA Moscow draw and Man City draw, then City are out due to CSKA’s superior head to head record against City.
- If CSKA Moscow win in Munich, City are out, again due to CSKA’s head to head record.
- If Man City lose in Rome, City are out and Roma are through.
WHERE IT GETS TRICKY...
- If CSKA Moscow lose and Man City draw, it goes to a head to head battle between City and Roma — their game at the Etihad finished 1-1.
- If the teams draw 0-0, then Roma would go through based on their better head to head away goals record.
- If the teams draw 1-1, they will finish on identical head to head records so City go through on their superior goal difference in the group.
- If the teams draw 2-2 or higher, City go through on head to head away goals.
Easier
said than done. A humbling by Munich aside, Roma have a formidable home
record in Europe and will fancy their chances after impressing in the
away leg of this tie. Three clubs can qualify and each one will think
itself in a strong position.
If
Roma win, they will go through, no matter what Moscow do. If City win,
Moscow could still knock them out with a victory over Bayern. City will
note that a scoring draw puts them through if Moscow also draw, as does a
win if Moscow drop points. But that’s for the future. It would be a
shame to focus on the permutations and forget the remarkable events of
last night that brought us here.
A
penalty for City and a red card to Munich. It could hardly have been a
better start after 21 minutes. Just seconds earlier, City had survived
the best chance of the game so far when Arjen Robben sent a cross deep
into the penalty area from the left. The ball fell perfectly to Rafinha
coming off a long run but his shot was charged down by Eliaquim Mangala
when heading for goal at a real lick.
Play
moved swiftly to the other end, courtesy of a sweet pass from Lampard.
It dropped for Aguero, with only Benatia in his orbit. He sped through,
keeping the ball sensibly on the wrong side of the defender, and there
was no way Benatia could make a challenge. Foolishly, he did. He took
Aguero out, got nothing of the ball, and placed his team in double
jeopardy.
Referee
Pavel Kralovec of the Czech Republic had no choice but to show red and
point to the spot. Aguero stepped up to capitalise on his own good work,
struck the ball to the right corner, and will have been mightily
relieved to have found the perfect position, with Neuer guessing
correctly and getting over as far as humanly possible.
And
that, really, should have been that. Pep Guardiola introduced Dante for
the luckless Sebastian Rode but there was no real need for Bayern’s 10
men to run themselves into the ground retrieving a game that made no
difference to the qualification process. As it turned out, City let them
back in, and with open arms.
In
the 40th minute, Mangala brought down Robert Lewandowski with a clumsy
challenge outside the area. Alonso placed the ball for the free-kick
while Joe Hart busily assembled the most clumsily constructed wall since
the one that nearly brought the hotel down in Fawlty Towers. Either it
was not over far enough or he was behind the wrong part. As it was,
Dante peeled off and Alonso struck the ball on a straight trajectory
into the far corner. Hart stood flat-footed as it went past. What
happened next was equally regrettable.
In
the final minute before half-time, Boateng struck a cross from the
right to Lewandowski in the middle. The odds were two against one in
City’s favour. No harm there. But this is City in Europe, remember.
Danger lurks everywhere. Lewandowski got in behind Vincent Kompany and
muscled Bacary Sagna out of the reckoning and suddenly Hart’s position
was vulnerable. Lewandowski exploited it to perfection, his looping
header making England’s goalkeeper appear weak once again.
Xabi Alonso
surprises Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart by opting to side-foot his
free-kick towards the far corner of the goal
A wrong-footed Hart can only watch as Alonso's effort rolls past him and in to the bottom-left corner of his goal
Alonso takes the plaudits after he dumbfounded the England No 1 to draw Bayern back level in the first half
The Bayern players celebrate their equaliser in unison as City midfielder Frank Lampard (left) looks to the heavens
Xabi Alonso completed 11 more passes than the entire City side in the first-half - here is his heat map from our service
Hart is beaten once more, this time by Robert Lewandowski's shoulder as the striker beat Bacary Sagna to a cross
Lewandowski punches the air in delight after giving Bayern the lead for the first time in the match
Aguero and Fernando look shell-shocked as City head back for the re-start with their lead having been blown away
And
there it stood until the 85th minute when the previously flawless
Alonso misplaced a pass into the stride of substitute Stevan Jovetic.
Aguero was on goal like a flash, drew Neuer and stuck it in the corner,
his second of the night.
His
third came as Munich’s tiredness showed. This time it was an error by
Boateng that left him one on one. Nobody was in any doubt about the
outcome this time.
Aguerrroooo — as they like to say around these parts. Where would they be without him? Not here, that’s for sure.
Aguero slots home with his left foot
after racing away from Dante as Stevan Jovetic capitalised on an
uncharacteristic error from Alonso
Aguero tweeted his delight at the result shortly after the match, saying: 'Always, always fight 'til the end. C'mon City!!!'
Aguero celebrates the late winner knowing he has kept alive Manchester City's Champions League hopes
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