Manchester City 2 Bristol City 1: Sergio Aguero heads injury-time winner to earn first-leg lead
Robins took a shock lead through Bobby Reid but saw Kevin De Bruyne and Aguero hit back
THEY left it late. Heartbreakingly late, as it happens.
Bristol City, magnificent to a man all night, were beaten by Sergio Aguero’s header deep into stoppage time.
This game, this brilliant game of ours, can be so cruel sometimes.
Pep needed his main man, turning to Aguero in the 70th minute when he could not find a way to win this first leg.
The Argentinian delivered, steering Bernardo Silva’s left-footed cross beyond Bristol City keeper Frank Fielding.
Such a shame.
Nobody, not even the great Pep, would have complained if Bristol City had protected a 1-1 draw at the Etihad.
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They dared to dream at the home of the big boys and that, it must be said, is something special.
Bristol City have a chance in the second leg at Ashton Gate, but it is a very slim one indeed.
To score one goal, as little Bobby Reid did from the penalty spot, against a side with Manchester City’s clout is impressive.
To score at least two, to stop them powering into the Carabao Cup final against either Arsenal or Chelsea, will surely be beyond them.
Still they gave it a go here with a gutsy display.
They took the lead when Reid scored from the spot and then they dared to dream.
Sometimes you have to sit still for a few moments and soak it all up.
To look up at the sea of Bristol City faces celebrating in the south stand after Reid nonchalantly, confidently, tucked away his 44th minute penalty.
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To see their legions of executives and corporate guests, infiltrating every area of the main stand, celebrating wildly.
Nobody could begrudge Bristol City this extraordinary moment, leaving this semi-final tantalisingly, fascinatingly poised.
The Robins were rocking, alright.
No matter how many hours he spent poring through the tapes of the way City go about their business, going into the interval with a half-time would not have figured too highly.
Lead they did, with Reid scoring after John Stones took out Reid after a dreadful defensive mistake by Eliaquim Mangala.
Reid, this tigerish, tricky little blighter doing all the running for City up front, put Bristol City in front.
From there they dared to dream, covering every blade of grass, smashing into tackles and making goal-line clearances.
That is the life of any player, let alone a Championship club, coming up against this rampant City side.
At that moment, when the ball rippled against the nylon in the Bravo’s netting, Bristol City believed.
Sure they made plenty of mistakes, rode their luck, dodged a few bullets during a haphazard first half.
All that really mattered, when Anthony Taylor whistled for half-time, is that they were somehow in front.
Credit to the Championship side, they were well worth it.
Joe Bryan, getting some change out of Danilo at full-back whenever he tore forward, had a couple of chances before the dramatic opener.
Claudio Bravo pawed one away after an uncharacteristic mistake by Kevin de Bruyne and he fancied himself with a left-footed effort four minutes before the break.
They got the penalty when that doofus Mangala dithered, allowing Josh Brown to pickpocket the City defender and put Reid in.
When Stones went to ground, Pep turned away before the referee had even signalled for a penalty.
What happened next goes down in Bristol City folklore.
Pep’s side, surviving penalty shoot-outs against Wolves and Leicester in the previous two rounds, were well below par.
Frank Fielding tipped a couple of De Bruyne’s curlers over the bar in the first half, and Raheem Sterling should have had more conviction around the 18 yard box.
Sterling was convinced he was about to equalise at the end of the first half, but central defender Aden Flint bravely headed over the bar.
There was more to come after the break, with Leroy Sane skewing a left-footed effort wide and Fielding saving well from Sterling.
It turned into a bombardment.
De Bruyne got the equaliser, allowed to ferry the ball from one half of the pitch to the other before exchanging passes with Sterling.
The 56th minute finish, as usual, was crisp.
He is a marked man out there, with Flint and Bryan both tag-teaming in the second half with some clumsy challenges.
Flint, Bryan and Korey Smith, hero against United in the last round, were all booked in a chaotic three minute spell in the second half.
Beyond that they regained their composure, keeping their cool to smother City’s attacks before they sent for Sergio Aguero.
That was the game-changer, with Aguero’s class telling when he eluded Bristol City’s defence to score the winner.
When that happened, he broke the hearts of their brilliant travelling fans.