AS Monaco gunned down Manchester City 3-1 in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 second leg tie on Wednesday, successfully overhauling a two-goal deficit to send Pep Guardiola’s men packing from the continental competition on the away goals rule (6-6 aggregate).

The first leg had been remarkable in many ways, not least for its 5-3 scoreline in favour of City and while a repeat of that scoreline was unlikely, the State Louis II Stadium was packed and anticipating a thrilling 90 minutes of football.

And the fans weren't disappointed, despite Monaco trotting out without the injured Radamel Falcao, their top scorer this season. El Tigre had suffered a knock on the weekend and despite assurances that he would be fit to play, didn't even make the bench.

Valere Germain started at centre forward in his stead, with young Kylian Mbiappe for company as the French side looked to get a good start against a nearly full-strength Manchester City side that had the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne starting.

On paper the Sky Blues might have had the edge, but once the game started Monaco utterly dominated proceedings and were 2-0 up on the night before 30 minutes had been played.

Mbiappe poked home a Bernardo Silva cross in the 8th minute to open Monaco’s account on the night as City’s defence was opened up for the first but not the last time in the tie.

The 18-year-old Mbiappe had come close to scoring just minutes earlier only to be denied by Willy Caballero and made amends with for his earlier miss to give Monaco the impetus they so required in the tie.

City looked clueless and Monaco took advantage of their opponents’ sluggish performance by doubling their lead via midfielder Fabinho in the 29th minute. Full back Benjamin Mendy, who had been instrumental in the first goal, provided a pin-point cross which was guided into the net by Fabinho, who arrived at the right place at the right time to give the hosts complete control.

While the second half saw a much-improved performance from City, their talismanic striker Aguero was having an off day and failed to put away chances which normally he would have done without any fuss. 

Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling were the sole bright spots for the Sky Blues and the two combined to score a goal which changed the complexion of the tie in the 71st minute. Sterling cut in from the right and his shot was saved by Danijel Subasic but fell to Sane, who tapped home to put City ahead 6-5 on aggregate.
With less than twenty minutes to play, City had to defend their slender advantage but couldn't manage that as an unmarked Tiemoue Bakayoko headed home from a Thomas Lemar free kick to put Monaco 3-1 up on the night and through to the quarters by virtue of the away goals rule

The French side managed to hold on and while City huffed and puffed, they just couldn’t conjure anything special to beat the inspired Subasic.
Monaco join the likes of Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Leicester City, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund in the last eight and while most sides will be wary of Leicester, Monaco have proved that they can trump any side on their day.