Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has slammed the VAR decision not to disallow Moussa Dembele’s goal on Friday night.
Although he took responsibility for Manchester City’s shocking Champions League exit to Lyon, Aymeric Laporte can’t help blaming VAR for another questionable decision.
There’s ongoing unrest at the Etihad circle after the Sky Blues suffered at the hands of VAR in the Champions League for the second year in succession.
Only last season, Pep Guardiola’s men were severely damaged by a controversial VAR call on Fernando Llorente’s handball that propelled Tottenham to the competition’s semi-finals.
Then like yesterday, VAR officials refused to disallow what presumably was a foul play, inflicting irreversible damage on City’s Champions League pursuit.
This time around, neither referee Danny Makkelie nor VAR room saw probable cause to annul Moussa Dembele’s tie-deciding goal 11 minutes from the final whistle.
Despite Manchester City’s appeals for a possible foul on Laporte in the build-up to the goal, Makkelie’s judgment legged-up Lyon’s chase of the semi-finals.
Laporte, who refuses to settle with another Champions League disappointment, was quick to express his feelings via Twitter.
“Just to be clear: I will not hide, I’m a football player but a man foremost, we all made mistakes in this game, and I also take my responsibility for the bad team performance,” he wrote on social media.
“But this decision is hard to accept, especially in a crucial qualifier and with the help of VAR.”
Adding to this sentiment, Dembele had been offside earlier in progress.
The French striker, though, moved on to put the final nail in Manchester City’s coffin in the 87th minute.
Pep Guardiola has now failed to lead the Premier League giants into the Champions League semi-finals for his fourth year in charge.
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