- Cornet, Fekir score
- City sloppy in midfield
- Sane-inspired comeback bid falls short
Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir scored first half goals as Lyon stunned Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League.
Leroy Sane set up Bernardo Silva to pull a goal back for Man City, but the second did not arrive for the hosts.
Man City is off to Hoffenheim next on Oct. 2, when Lyon will host Shakhtar Donetsk.
[ MORE: Champions League standings ]
City had a lot of the ball, but a giveaway at midfield helped Lyon go on top.
Kyle Walker didn’t close down his mark on the left, Ederson was slow in acting on the cross, and Fabian Delph made a laughable mess of defending it.
The ball fell to Cornet, who left little doubt with a drive inside the far post.
City was denied an Ilkay Gundogan equalizer when assist man Raheem Sterling was inches offside.
And the hosts took a 2-0 deficit to the locker room with more poor midfield play, with Fekir blasting a Fernandinho giveaway past Ederson.
6 - Six of the last eight instances of Manchester City conceding twice in the first half of a match at the Etihad have been in the Champions League. Theme. pic.twitter.com/itnIPpZnZE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 19, 2018
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]
Anthony Lopes made a fine stop on Gundogan as City pushed to get back into the game.
Mikel Arteta opted for Leroy Sane off the bench as suspended manager Pep Guardiola watched from the stands.
A counter attack nearly saw the score line balloon to 3-0, but Memphis Depay’s clever bid was touched by Ederson before hitting the post and bounding in front of the line.
Sane was the provider on City’s strike back into the contest, as he cut back for Bernardo to finish.
Riyad Mahrez sent a cross into the box that Sane couldn’t turn on goal, and it remained 2-1 as the 84th minute began in Manchester.
Ederson had another timely intervention on Memphis in the 89th minute to keep City alive.
Sergio Aguero tried to put the game on his back in the 90th, but his shot was touched out for a corner.
