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Manchester City rallies twice to beat Monaco 5-3 in Champions League thriller

Sergio Aguero
Aguero began the Man City comeback. (Reuters)

Up until now, there had been a linear quality to Manchester City’s slow and deliberate pursuit of the UEFA Champions League crown.

In its first two seasons in the competition, starting in 2011-12, after the Abu Dhabi ownership’s mountainous investments started paying off, City stranded in the group stage – albeit with the burden of brutal draws. The third and fourth years, it reached the round of 16 but had the misfortune of running into the Barcelona buzzsaw both times. Last season came the breakthrough as City made it to the semifinals, where Real Madrid eliminated the Sky Blues.

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Progress had been halting. The knockout games tight and ponderous.

In Tuesday’s first leg of City’s round-of-16 battle with French league leaders Monaco, all of that was turned on its head. The Citizens twice went behind at home against Monaco, a collective of sparkling young talent, before roaring back to a 5-3 win that positions the club well for a second straight trip to the quarterfinals.

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For a fair chunk of the game, however, it all looked like it was going to end very badly for Pep Guardiola’s men. Sergio Aguero missed a fat chance early on, and just then, the injured teenaged Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus, who had dislodged the veteran striker after his arrival in January, was missed rather acutely. The Argentine would certainly make amends, though.

And City took the first lead anyway. In the 26th minute, Leroy Sane ran at the defense from the left, gave the ball up to David Silva, got it back and squared for Raheem Sterling. He had a wide-open tap-in, courtesy of an astounding bit of skill from the German winger.

City mostly ran the game, but Monaco found a lifetime of joy behind the Sky Blues’ high line on the counter with long balls that somehow seemed too complicated in their concept for the English side to deal with. The other source of danger were City’s own turnovers in the back.

In the 32nd minute, Man City goalkeeper Willy Cabellero delivered yet another problematic pass out of the back. Monaco’s Fabinho whipped in a cross and Radamel Falcao’s majestic diving header tied it up.

In a moment of controversy a few minutes later, Aguero was through one-on-one and goalkeeper Danijel Subasic made very real contact in the box. Aguero, however, was booked for simulation, and it is just about impossible to tell if Aguero had sought the contact and gone down before it even happened or if it really was a foul – and therefore a penalty.

The immediate aftermath seemed harsh on City. Because 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe, labeled the new Thierry Henry by some, ran in behind the City defense and smashed a shot behind Cabellero to put Monaco ahead.

And just after halftime, Monaco could have dealt a knockout blow. Nicolas Otamendi clipped Falcao as the Colombian tried to connect with a cross. But he rolled his own penalty kick far too softly and well within Caballero’s reach.

In the 58th minute, City won the ball in its own half. Sterling raced away with it and played in Aguero. His shot to the near post was completely mishandled by Subasic, who let it skip into his net. That made it 2-2.

Monaco would go ahead one last time. After the hour, another long ball was tracked down by Falcao, who beat John Stones and chipped Cabellero delightfully.

It continued to rain chances on both sides. But then Aguero confirmed his redemption. In the last of a pair of corners, he volleyed in David Silva’s service to make it 3-3.

The winner followed. In the 77th minute, Kevin De Bruyne’s corner was nodded on by Yaya Toure and redirected into the net by Stones to get his own vindication.

Finally, in the 82nd minute, Sane got his much-deserved goal. Silva dinked a ball over to Aguero, who laid off for the 21-year-old starlet. He had an empty goal to work with.

Sometimes it seems like a season, and even an era, can boil down to a single momentum-swing. Falcao’s penalty miss felt like just such an instance. Even though Monaco would take another lead, it looked like it had City beaten at that point. A two-goal lead would have surely cemented that.

But Cabellero’s save heartened the home team. And perhaps saved Guardiola’s debut season in England, ensuring that his era doesn’t begin with a flop.

Manchester City’s march to the top continues.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.