VAR denies Jesus but Manchester City stroll past Sporting with total control | Champions League

To the question of who would wish to be paired with Manchester City in Friday’s draw for the quarter-finals the answer is surely not one.

This has been an easy canter through the group stage and last 16 to the business end of the Champions League for Pep Guardiola’s side. City reached last year’s final and few would wager they cannot do so again as there is a poise and know-how in his team that was missing when Lyon, Tottenham, Liverpool and Monaco all dumped City out in the knockout rounds of previous editions.

Sporting never had a chance as their hosts had done all the heavy lifting in the opening leg three weeks ago.

At 5-0 up this was the definition of an academic second leg. What Guardiola would look for, then, would be professionalism by shutting Sporting out using City’s best fluid rhythms

For this quest Guardiola gave 19-year-old Conrad Egan-Riley a Champions League debut, fielding the defender at right-back in place of a suspended Kyle Walker, the manager also moving Kevin De Bruyne to the bench as he was a booking away from suspension.

Sporting had been made to appear amateurish in the opening meeting so how would they approach tonight was a poser: would they try and avoid further embarrassment or might they try and hurl the proverbial kitchen sink at their hosts?

The problem with the latter is City’s ability to hog possession. And if they do not have the ball it is hunted down feverishly as when Gonçalo Inácio was pickpocketed near goal by Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden was found with a pass, and Sporting were suddenly in trouble.

From this moment came a Foden free-kick 20 yards out. His delivery of him found John Stones in the area who found Gabriel Jesus. Manuel Ugarte then seemed to bundle Jesus over and Guardiola was straight into the fourth official’s ear to ask why the referee, Halil Umut Meler, did not award a penalty.

Egan-Riley’s first contribution was to skip forward and see a cross deflected out for a corner. At this point City were tapping the ball between them and Guardiola was going through his semaphore act, whirling arms as instruction to any player who might catch his eye from him.

But, now, City’s high line was broken by Islam Slimani’s sprint from halfway and for a moment Ederson’s goal was threatened before an Aymeric Laporte leap-and-tackle killed the danger.

Next, Jesus again appeared to be dumped over by Ugarte in the area but the referee was, again, not interested and this passage ended with Foden’s shot being saved by Antonio Adán. Then Slimani fell Jesus and this time Meler awarded a free-kick, sarcastic cheers were the home support’s predictable response. It was that kind of night as Sporting’s fans enjoyed themselves by running through a medley of their favorite songs accompanied by one of their contingent constantly beating a bass drum.

They could cheer in anger, though, when Egan-Riley had to head clear from his area and, too, when Adan plucked Raheem Sterling’s dink from the air as it headed for goal a little later.

City’s faithful thought they could be truly jubilant when Riyad Mahrez, on for the second half, ran right-to-left across Sporting’s area, slipped in Jesus who found the back of the net: VAR, though, ruled this offside much to Guardiola’s visible chagrin.

James McAtee, another Champions League debutant, was Guardiola’s second half-time change and he instantly integrated, helping to knit moves together along the left, as he Fernandinho, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jesus popped the ball about at ease.

Then, with a rapid change of pace, Ilkay Gündogan beat a man and passed to McAtee who passed back and when Jesus became involved he relocated the on-running McAtee whose backheel was cute and went close to creating the opener for the Brazilian before Sebastian Coates intervene.

City were not coasting – this is not in the Guardiola playbook – but they were in control, harrying Sporting, claiming the ball back, and launching measured attacks. Yet, in a rare foray upfield, a Marcus Edwards shimmy had Zinchenko tackling air though the winger’s attempt was too weak to trouble Ederson. This signaled a small period of Portuguese domination of City’s final third before, inevitably, those in sky blue again moved Sporting back into their own territory.

For the final stages Guardiola gave Scott Carson a first taste of mid-week European lights for City, the goalkeeper replacing Ederson: a nice touch from his manager who ended content despite Sterling’s late, point-blank miss.