Bernado Silva’s second-half strike in replies to goals from Maxwel Cornet and Fekir was not enough to earn City a point
Manchester City got their 2018/19 Champions League campaign off to a bad start after succumbing to a 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon.
Goals from Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir gave the Ligue 1 side a 2-0 lead at half-time with suspended Pep Guardiola looking on in shock.
Bernardo Silva pulled one back for the hosts but it wasn’t enough to get his side anything out of the game on a night where City were well off the pace.
This is City’s fourth Champions League defeat in a row
The game made a slow start until City carved out the first chance on 16 minutes when Raheem Sterling’s goalbound shot was blocked by Jason Denayer.
Aymeric Laporte’s back-post header hit the woodwork from the resulting corner as the visitors had a narrow escape.
Cornet then went round Ederson and put the ball in the net but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
But Lyon had the ball in the net moments later and this time it counted when Cornet took advantage of some lapse defending from Fabian Delph to tuck away Fekir’s searching cross from the left.
City struggled to deal with Lyon’s attacking threat all game
City thought they equalised shortly after but Ilkay Gundogan’s tap-in was disallowed as Sterling – who provided the assist- was offside in the build up.
Guardiola’s side then had a penalty appeal waived away after Gabriel Jesus threw himself to the ground but Lyon defender Rafael withdrew his trailing leg in the nick of time.
And the Citizens found themselves 2-0 down when Fekir dispossessed Fernandinho in a dangerous position before firing the ball into the corner of the net to leave the Etihad Stadium stunned.
The hosts did not improve a great deal after the break and were fortunate to not find themselves three goals down when former Manchester United man Memphis Depay’s effort was brilliantly saved onto the post by Ederson.
Silva’s 67th-minute strike gave City some hope going into the final quarter of the game
However, the Premier League champions got back into the game with a neat finish from Silva after great work down the left from Leroy Sane.
Sergio Aguero nearly got City’s equaliser but Anthony Lopes was equal to the Argentine’s powerful effort from distance.
But City were unable to find an equaliser as Lyon claimed a deserved win.
STAR MAN
Credit should be given to Lyon. As bad as City were their opponents made life difficult for them with Tanguy Ndombele coming out on top against the Citizens’ star-studded midfield.
However, Fekir’s contribution to the game has helped Lyon claim the win and thus makes him the star man.
Fekir celebrates Lyon’s second goal of the game
The France international provided the assist for Cornet’s goal albeit largely due to some terrible defending before scoring a brilliant goal just before the break.
Fekir was poised with a move to Liverpool last summer but that transfer fell through but some Kopites on Twitter called on the club to make a second approach for him.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
It was a game where the home side failed to conjure up moments of real quality so the main highlight has to be Fekir’s goal.
He nicked the ball of Fernandinho before running at the City defence and stroking ball past the adept Ederson with ease.
Fekir outshone City playmaker David Silva
GROUP F TABLE
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