Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City suffered a “cruel” Champions League exit – after Raheem Sterling's dramatic late winner was ruled out by VAR.
Sterling thought he had completed his hat-trick and sent City into the semi-finals with his 93rd-minute strike on a night of unremitting drama at the Etihad Stadium.
But with City's players, boss Pep Guardiola, staff and fans celebrating wildly, the goal was referred to VAR, with Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir ruling it out for offside against Sergio Aguero.
Tottenham held out for a famous victory, going through on away goals and into a semi-final showdown with Ajax, while City's dream of an historic Quadruple was dashed.
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“It's tough,” said Guardiola. “We were close to going through. It's cruel, but we have to accept it.
“In the second-half we did everything, but it was a bad ending for us.”
There was further anguish for City and Guardiola, after Fernando Llorente's decisive goal, which swung the tie in Tottenham's favour, was allowed to stand after going to VAR.
There was a suspicion of handball as Llorente turned the ball over the line, but after reviewing replays of the action, ref Cakir allowed it to stand.
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Guardiola said: “I support VAR. It's just to see that the goal from Llorente was maybe handball. From one angle it's handball. From another it's not.
“I am for fair football. When it's offside, it's offside. I don’t know about Raheem's goal. I saw the action and if the people decide it's offside, it's offside. What can I say?
“We missed a penalty in the first leg, but we created an incredible amount of chances today and I'm so proud, especially for the fans.
“It was an amazing night for us. I never saw the stadium like tonight, since I was here in Manchester. They know we gave everything, but football is like this, it's unpredictable.”
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There were four goals in the opening 11 minutes in a frenetic opening to the game, but City edged ahead 4-2 on the night, before Llorente's decisive intervention.
City host Spurs again on Sunday in the Premier League and must put this setback behind them and focus on their title tussle with Liverpool .
“We have to stand up and react,” said Guardiola. “We've fought for nine or 10 months in the Premier League. Of course it's tough and we have to do it until the end.”
