- Title: Manchester City triumph in epic 5-3 Champions League battle with Monaco
- Date: 21st February 2017
- Summary: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (FEBRUARY 21, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER PEP GUARDIOLA, SPEAKING ABOUT HIS TEAM'S PERFORMANCE, SAYS: (NOTE AUDIO HITS FROM MICROPHONE AT BEGINNING) (I am so happy for the result because) We're still alive and especially for the performance of those guys. For most of them it is their first experience of Champions Le
- Embargoed: 7th March 2017 23:59
- Keywords: Pep Guardiola Manchester City Monaco Leonardo Jardim
- Location: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK
- City: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00264GSTHB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Manchester City came out on top in an epic Champions League battle against Monaco as late goals by John Stones and Leroy Sane secured a 5-3 victory in a last 16 first-leg tie on Tuesday (February 21) that had goals galore and a missed penalty.
City took the lead through Raheem Sterling but were then playing catch-up as Monaco drew level thanks to Radamel Falcao's header and went ahead with a powerful finish from 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe five minutes before halftime.
South American poachers Sergio Aguero for City and Falcao, who also missed a penalty, then traded blows with Aguero equalising for 2-2 and then 3-3 after Falcao's exquisite chip gave Monaco the lead for the second time at The Etihad.
City, however, then pulled clear as Stones tapped in at the far post and Sane rolled the ball into an empty net to give City a two-goal advantage ahead of the return on March 15.
Afterwards a contented Pep Guardiola spoke about how attacking soccer of this kind was what he wanted for his players and club to grow.
"We attack the smallest place, we defend huge spaces, that's why the people contact me to come here. I love to play in that way. I think it is something special for the football when two teams want to play in that way - attack and attack - in the end the football is marvellous," he said.
Guardiola added that it was pointless to go to Monaco for next month's second leg attempting to defend the first leg result.
"We are there to score goals. It is impossible to go through to the next stage if we do not score a goal. If we do not score a goal we will be eliminated," he said.
Summaries from the Champions League Last 16 first leg matches on Tuesday.
Manchester City 5 Raheem Sterling 26, Sergio Aguero 58,71, John Stones 77, Leroy Sane 82
Monaco 3 Radamel Falcao 32,61, Kylian Mbappe 40
Missed penalty: Radamel Falcao 50
Halftime: 1-2;Attendance: 50,000
Results from the Champions League Last 16 first leg matches on Tuesday.
Last 16
Tuesday, February 21, first leg
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) - Atletico Madrid (Spain) 2-4 (halftime: 0-2)
Manchester City (England) - Monaco (France) 5-3 (halftime: 1-2)
Next Fixtures (GMT):
Last 16
Wednesday, February 22, first leg
Porto (Portugal) v Juventus (Italy) (1945)
Sevilla (Spain) v Leicester City (England) (1945) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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