Sterling, Ederson singled out for blunders as Manchester City crashes out of Champions League

Two costly blunders in quick succession from Raheem Sterling and Ederson cost Manchester City its place in the Champions League semifnals, and fans on social media lost no time in highlighting their contributions to the surprise defeat. 

Pep Guardiola’s men went into Saturday’s clash against Lyon as firm favorites to progress, with a last-four match against Bayern Munich on offer for the winners. But it proved to be a torrid evening for the Premier League side, which found Lyon an extremely tough customer throughout the 90 minutes. 

Maxwel Cornet fired the Frenchmen ahead after 23 minutes, a lead they retained until deep into the second half when Kevin De Bruyne leveled the score. 

At that point City was the dominant team, but its hopes were finally crushed in a frantic finish to the match. 

Moussa Dembele restored Lyon’s advantage with 11 minutes remaining, before City was handed a golden chance to equalize once more. 

Somehow, though, Sterling blazed high and wide with the goal gaping, an error compounded seconds later by the usually rock-solid Ederson. 

City’s keeper spilled a tame shot and Dembele stole in to net his second and Lyon’s third, sealing for the underdogs a memorable 3-1 victory and a place in the semis. 

Both players will feel responsible for sending their side out of the competition, although Tottenham’s Harry Kane, to judge from the immediate reaction from Twitter users, might just feel vindicated for his decision to ignore Sterling in England’s 2018 World Cup match against Croatia.