April 13, (THEWILL) – Man City earned a 1-0 aggregate triumph over Atletico Madrid after a tense goalless stalemate at the Wanda Metropolitano.
England international John Stones received a Kevin De Bruyne corner at the front post in the early exchanges, but he could only flick his header over the crossbar.
Then, Phil Foden’s attempt bounced invitingly onto De Bruyne’s line of fire and Reinildo was forced to make a last-ditch block from a De Bruyne volley at the edge of the penalty area, as City gained in confidence away from home.
A magnificent, sweeping play, gave Pep Guardiola’s team the chance to break the deadlock in the 29th minute. Riyad Mahrez passed Kyle Walker inside the area, and when his pull-back was intercepted by Foden at the far post, the England international teed up Ilkay Gundogan. However, the German’s left-footed effort could only hit the inside of the post.
That was as good as it got in the first half and Diego Simeone’s charges were not finding it easy to impress their home advantage on the visitors.
Immediately after the restart, Atletico created their first serious chance of the evening. A beautiful first-time pass from Koke delivered Antoine Griezmann in behind the City defence, and the Frenchman surged towards goal, but Aymeric Laporte matched him stride-for-stride before diverting the ball away for a corner.
Joao Felix met a pass from Marcos Llorente but only managed to send his header over the crossbar for the home side as they began to assert themselves against City.
Simeone made a quadruple substitution as he threw everything at Guardiola’s side, with Griezmann flashing wide on the half-volley after being handed off by Felix just before the hour mark.
Rodrigo De Paul then came off the bench and almost immediately made an impact. The excellent Felix played the ball wide to Llorente on the right, and De Paul curled his shot just wide of the near post when he moved the ball back inside.
When Angel Correa was released from behind with four minutes left, the hearts of the City team, coaching crew and fans were in their mouths. The substitute steered it into the path of Matheus Cunha, and only Stones’ spectacular block prevented the hosts from equalising late on.
As the home team lost their calm as the tie slipped away, Felipe was sent off in stoppage time after earning his second yellow card of the night.
After that, there were not many highlights, as City held on to retain their clean sheet and secure qualification with a 1-0 aggregate victory.
The big games keep coming for City, as they meet Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals for the second time in a week on Saturday. On Sunday, Atletico will play Espanyol at home in LaLiga.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
