Fans could barely believe what they were seeing when Llorente bundled the ball into the net from a corner to put Spurs back in front, but their celebrations were delayed by a long VAR check, which eventually gave the goal despite a possible handball call.The replays are still unclear and it is likely to be a topic of debate for some time.
But the madness continued – Raheem Sterling thought he had scored his third goal of the night to wrap up the most dramatic of victories for City in stoppage-time, only for his strike to be ruled for offside after another lengthy VAR delay.While the Tottenham team celebrated with their fans in their small corner of the ground – progressing to the last four of the European Cup for the first time since 1962 – the rest in the Etihad sat in stunned silence.And Halsey says Pep Guardiola’s side were hard done
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“If the ball doesn’t hit his arm and it just goes into his body, it just goes back straight [away from goal]. But because it’s deflected by the forearm, it’s brushed his side and gone in.We’ve seen some handballs given this season against defenders in the Champions League that were not deliberate, but we can’t have it both ways.It’s not fair for defenders being penalised when attackers are getting away with it. You’ve got to have consistency.Of course, next season they’ve changed the interpretation of handball, so that will automatically be ruled out.”
The contest exploded into life in the fourth minute when Sterling put City in front, receiving a ball from Kevin De Bruyne on the left flank and then cutting inside onto his right foot before beating Hugo Lloris with a beautiful, curling shot into the far corner.Three minutes later though, Spurs drew level when City’s French defender Aymeric Laporte’s attempted clearance fell straight at the feet of Son Heung-min whose low shot flew in off the leg of City keeper Ederson.
Laporte was also at fault for Spurs’ second in the 10th minute when he gifted the ball to Lucas Moura, the Brazilian feeding Christian Eriksen who found Son, the brilliant South Korean finishing superbly into the far corner.There was no respite as City responded immediately as Aguero fed Bernardo Silva and the Portuguese the winger’s left-foot shot deflected off Danny Roseand beat the wrong-footed Lloris to make it 2-2 on the night.