WATCH: Tottenham Reaches UCL Semifinals in Thriller, Ousts Man City on Away Goals
Manchester City and Tottenham's cagey Champions League quarterfinal gave way to a thrilling shootout–and one decided on a disallowed goal.
Manchester City returned home looking to overturn a 1-0 aggregate deficit to Tottenham in an all-Premier League quarterfinal. It did that within three minutes before bedlam broke loose in a 4-3 Man City win that sent Tottenham through on the away-goals tiebreaker after a 4-4 aggregate draw. Man City thought it had won in stoppage time, when Raheem Sterling appeared to score what was his third goal of the match, but a VAR review caught Sergio Aguero offside in the build-up to the goal, taking it off the board and allowing Spurs to reach their first European semifinal since 1962.
Tottenham had held serve at the first European match at its new stadium, with Son Heung-min's second-half goal the difference between the two sides in the first leg, and the South Korean star was at it again Wednesday, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes. Sterling also scored twice in a wide-open affair in Manchester, where Fernando Llorente's goal wound up being the difference-maker.
Manchester City wasted little time in erasing its first-leg deficit. Sterling delivered a gorgeous fourth-minute strike, cutting to his right and curling a perfect hit by Hugo Lloris to make it 1-0 on the day, 1-1 on aggregate.
That reprieve didn't last long. Three minutes later, Son scored his second goal of the series, filling in admirably for the injured Harry Kane yet again with a shot from the edge of the box that Ederson got a leg to but couldn't keep out. The goal forced Man City to need two to go ahead, given that it gave Tottenham the away-goal advantage.
Son made it so that Man City needed three to go through three minutes after that. Like Sterling, Son curled a sensational right-footed shot by Ederson, giving Tottenham a 3-1 aggregate lead in the process.
That is, until Bernardo Silva scored a minute later. The Portuguese midfielder's chance from in close deflected in by Lloris, making it 3-2 on aggregate to Tottenham and meaning that the hosts now needed two to go through with the fourth goal in the opening 11 minutes.
Sterling sliced that number in half in the 21st minute, with the breakneck pace of this match refusing to let up. Like on his first goal, Sterling was assisted by Kevin De Bruyne, who crossed through the six-yard box for the English winger, who finished from a tight angle at the back post. The goal made it 3-3 on aggregate, with Tottenham's advantage reduced just to the away-goal tiebreaker.
The match finally went a lengthy stretch without scoring but not without a notable development. Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko was forced out with an apparent groin injury in the 40th minute, with Llorente coming on in his place as Mauricio Pochettino changed up his tactics.
Moments later, Son nearly secured his hat trick and gave Tottenham more breathing room, beating Kyle Walker 1-v-1 and unleashing a left-footed strike that came inches from tucking inside the far post.
Man City came close to taking the aggregate lead three minutes into the second half, when De Bruyne was whipped a free kick from 20 yards just over the crossbar after a Tottenham foul in a dangerous area.
Moments later, it was Sterling nearly getting his hat trick, only to have his chance from the center of the box turned away by Lloris. The goalkeeper yielded a rebound, with Danny Rose quickest to it and preventing from Bernardo Silva from tapping home the goal.
Lloris was called into action again in the 53rd minute, making a fantastic diving save to swat away a chance from De Bruyne that was earmarked for the far upper 90.
Tottenham fired a warning shot of its own through Llorente, whose diving header was directed right at Ederson, who made the save in the 58th minute.
That missed opportunity came back to bite Tottenham, as Man City went ahead on aggregate soon after. Aguero beat Lloris on a powerful near-post finish into the same net where he won the Premier League for Man City in 2012, giving Man City a 4-3 lead in the tie.
Tottenham didn't relent, though, and it eventually got the goal it needed to go back in front. Llorente got the goal, with a corner kick deflecting in off his thigh. A VAR review was needed to determine whether the ball hit off Llorente's arm first, but the goal was upheld and Spurs retook the advantage via the away goal tiebreaker.
Leroy Sane came off the bench for Man City and nearly made an instant impact, turning a ball into Ilkay Gundogan's path deep in the Tottenham box, but the German midfielder could only fire over the target when trying to score.
Man City thought it had the winner three minutes into stoppage time. Sterling scored and appeared to complete his hat trick, but Aguero was ruled offside by VAR in the build-up (he would have had the assist), controversially taking the goal off the board and effectively punching Tottenham's ticket to the semis.
As if the drama between the two sides Wednesday wasn't enough, they'll meet again in three days at the same venue in Premier League play, with Man City looking to keep its hopes of a domestic treble alive, while Tottenham is hoping to secure top-four positioning.
Here were the lineups for both teams:
Tottenham will face Ajax in the semifinals, after the Dutch giant delivered a shock to Juventus and ousted Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. on a 3-2 aggregate on Tuesday.
