There were 78 minutes gone when Leroy Sane was introduced; 85 when he gave Manchester City what they deserved. Why he had to wait that long, heaven knows.
Sane is one of Schalke’s favourite sons. He started here, made his name here as a sensation in German football; and because he did not leave them for a bigger Bundesliga club, they still love him around these parts.
So when he was introduced, late, with City inexplicably trailing there was none of the animosity traditionally reserved for deserters. Even his equaliser was greeted, not with anger, but mild resignation. Schalke knew they were a tad fortunate to be leading. Sane had only given City the minimum they merited. And it was some goal, too.
Raheem Sterling bagged a late winner as Manchester City claimed a remarkable comeback victory in Germany
Leroy Sane came off the bench to score a spectacular free-kick to make it 2-2 with just five minutes remaining in the game
Schalke were awarded a penalty after VAR adjudged Nicolas Otamendi to have deliberately handled in the area
Referee Carlos Del Cerro pointed to the spot for Schalke's first penalty after consulting VAR for over two-and-half minutes
Schalke midfielder Nabil Bentaleb calmly sent Ederson the wrong way to get the home side back on level terms
The City goalkeeper came closer to stopping the second penalty, getting a strong right hand on it but couldn't keep it out
Sergio Aguero had fired the visitors into the lead against Schalke with an easy tap in from inside the penalty area
City were reduced to 10 men in the second half with Otamendi seeing red after picking up his second yellow of the evening
Schalke (5-3-2): Fahrmann, Caligiuri, Bruma, Sane, Nastasic, Oczipka, Serdar, Bentaleb, McKennie (Skrzybski 77), Uth (Harit 88), Mendyl (Burgstaller 64);
Subs not used: Nubel, Rudy, Matondo, Kutucu
Scorers: Bentaleb (37, 44)
Booked: Uth, Sane
Man City (4-3-3): Ederson, Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Laporte, De Bruyne (Zinchenko 87), Gundogan, Silva (Kompany 69), Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Aguero (Sane 78);
Subs not used: Muric, Danilo, Mahrez, Foden
Scorers: Aguero (18), Sane (85), Sterling (90)
Booked: Otamendi, Fernandinho, Ederson
Sent off: Otamendi (68)
Referee: Carlos Del Cerro
Sergio Aguero had put Manchester City into the lead after David Silva won the ball high and squared for him to tap in. CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's brilliant MATCH ZONE feature.
Maybe they wouldn’t have been quite so philosophical had they known what was to befall them in the final minute of the game, but there you go. City were the best team, and their two goal fightback came when down to ten men after Nicolas Otamendi was sent off for a second bookable offence, a foul on Guido Burgstaller and then a stupidly angry reaction to the free-kick. Nobody can argue they did not work extremely hard for this win.
But back to Sane. What a goal got City back into this game. It was a free-kick, 25 yards out, which Sane took in an old-fashioned style but with incredible panache. A full throttle run up, a huge left foot strike and the ball up and over the wall, in with the merest flick off the inside of the post, goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann powerless to prevent it.
The winner was less spectacular but just as impressively effective. A long punt goalkeeper Ederson and Raheem Sterling shoulder to shoulder with defender Bastian Oczipa, who fell wanted a foul, didn’t get it, and left the England man to finish smartly. What a comeback just when it looked as if Pep Guardiola was about to lose his first tie to a German side. And to VAR, too. The new process wasn’t wrong, necessarily. It just wasn’t very satisfactory.
Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande wanted to have a look at his monitor, but the TV was on the fritz. The whole process of giving a Schalke penalty took close to four minutes, and few inside the ground had a clue what was going on. By the end of it, Schalke were level and maybe the decision was merited, but there was little here that will convince the sceptics of VAR’s worth.
Matija Nastasic times his sliding challenge on City striker Aguero to perfection to make an important intervention
Fernandinho argues with the referee after he awards Schalke their second penalty just before half-time
Aymeric Laporte tries to bring the ball under control with his head as Schalke defender Jeffrey Bruma applies pressure
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva creates a good crossing opportunity after a nice piece of skill in the corner
For much of the first-half it looked as if Manchester City could put this tie away before the second leg. By half-time, they trailed 2-1. How? A combination of rashness on the part of Fernandinho and the vagaries of VAR.
