What a night in the Champions League that was. Four goals in the first half had tensions ever higher inside the Etihad.
City looked to be at their unbelievable best with their goals having that special bit of quality that often comes under the Champions League lights. But despite their injuries and the constant onslaught from City, Heung-Min Son stepped up yet again with two goals.
Pochettino’s attitude around the togetherness within his team and not counting on individuals really paid off last night. Both Llorente and Wanyama put in stellar performances for their team after rarely being called upon this season.
Spurs fought right to the very end and it was all snatched away from them after Raheem Sterling grabbed what seemed to be his hat-trick. VAR, of course, had other ideas with the goal being disallowed for offside.
This match is definitely up there with the best the Champions League has ever seen, here’s how we rated the Spurs players performances:
Hugo Lloris - 6
He conceded four and could have quite easily been five, but he won’t care. The Spurs skipper pulled off a couple of good saves to keep his side in the game before Llorente’s goal.
Kieren Trippier - 5
He struggled to deal with Sterling cutting inside and often left the far post open in crossing situations.
Jan Vertonghen - 6
In the early stages of the game, he failed to stick tight to Aguero and was often dragged out of position, creating space in the box for City.
Toby Alderweireld - 6
Seemed to panic and hesitate when Aguero played short, one-touch passes with David Silva and Bernardo Silva around the box.
Danny Rose - 5
The overlap of Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker took Rose out of the game at times and he didn’t look as confident going forward.
Moussa Sissoko - 6
His injury is a massive blow for Spurs as he looked bright during the first 20 minutes.
Victor Wanyama - 7
Wanyama was arguably Spurs’ best player in this match, he was strong both on and off the ball. With Sissoko picking up an injury, Wanyama could be vital for Spurs as the season comes to a close.
Dele Alli - 6
Playing a deeper role yet again for Spurs, he was involved in the early build-up stages of Tottenham’s attacks but didn’t see as much of the ball as he’d have liked.
Christian Eriksen - 7
As always, Eriksen was Spurs’ playmaker and dictated their play when in possession.
Heung-Min Son - 7
His three goals across the two legs were massive for Spurs. He took both of his chances well and always looked to play off the shoulder of the defenders.
Lucas Moura - 6
He didn’t have as much of an impact as he did at the weekend but Moura was always involved in Spurs’ counter attacks.
(SUB) Fernando Llorente - 7
Llorente replaced Sissoko after his injury and did his job. He won balls in the air, tried to bring his team-mates into play and scored the header that secured Spurs’ first Champions League semi-final.
(SUB) Ben Davies - N/A
Davies came on in the last 10 minutes to help Spurs sot back, he saw very little of the ball.
(SUB) Davinson Sanchez
A sub in the final seconds who also had very little impact on the match.