Sergio Aguero netted a 69th-minute equaliser in a gripping 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday (Mar 19) to prevent Manchester City losing ground in the battle for a top-four Premier League finish.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (C) clashes with Liverpool’s goalkeeper Simon Mignolet during the English Premier League football match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England. Sergio Aguero netted a 69th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw. (PAUL ELLIS/AFP)

Liverpool looked poised to leapfrog City into third place after James Milner silenced the boos from fans of his former club to give the visitors the lead with a penalty early in the second half.

But Aguero’s strike kept City a point above their rivals, who have played a game more, and provided a moment of solace after their mid-week Champions League elimination at Monaco’s hands.

Both sides had chances to win the game in a breathless finale, Kevin De Bruyne hitting a post for City and Adam Lallana horribly miscuing with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Pep Guardiola had come in for criticism after City’s 3-1 loss at Stade Louis II, but his side will approach back-to-back trips to Arsenal and Chelsea on the back of a seven-game unbeaten run in the league.

While Jurgen Klopp failed to become the first manager to do a league double over Guardiola, his Liverpool team are now unbeaten in 10 games against their fellow top-six sides this season.

A rain-slicked pitch and two attack-minded teams made for a furious first half at the Etihad Stadium, characterised by City possession and Liverpool counter-attacks.

City unambiguously targeted the flanks, Leroy Sane on the left and ex-Liverpool man Raheem Sterling on the right whipping a succession of low, pacy crosses across Simon Mignolet’s six-yard box.

Twice, Aguero felt he had been unfairly impeded as he tried to get on the end of them, first by Joel Matip and then Ragnar Klavan.

The latter incident, in the 43rd minute, also saw Sterling taken out by a despairing Milner as the pair stretched for David Silva’s low cross, with Fernandinho sliding the ball wide at the back post.

City’s clearest opening of the half saw Silva thrash the ball inches wide of the left-hand post after Mignolet had jutted out his left foot to fend off a drive from Sane.

LALLANA MISSES KICK

But the best chances of the first period were all Liverpool’s.

An under-hit John Stones back-pass let in Sadio Mane, only for an authoritative sortie by goalkeeper Willy Caballero, allied to a subtle tug from Nicolas Otamendi, to save the day.

Philippe Coutinho bent a shot just over, Matip headed wide at a free-kick and Caballero showed agility to claw away a Roberto Firmino curler and touch over a thumping Lallana volley.

After Mane had seen a shot blocked by Stones, Liverpool went ahead in the sixth minute of the second half.

Gael Clichy was penalised for a high, untidy challenge on Firmino as the Brazilian chested down Emre Can’s flighted pass and Milner swept the penalty into the bottom-left corner.

Firmino looked poised to double the visitors’ lead from Coutinho’s measured through ball, but Caballero stood up well to save.

Eight minutes later it was all square as De Bruyne’s brilliantly measured cross from the right was unerringly dispatched by Aguero.

Aguero looked poised to put City ahead in the 76th minute, but after a neat one-two with Sane he stumbled, De Bruyne scuffing the loose ball against the post.

An increasingly end-to-end contest then spat out a glorious chance for Lallana, but from Firmino’s knock-down and with Mignolet’s goal at his mercy, he missed his kick.

As the noise levels rose, Sterling and Aguero – twice – spurned late chances, but a draw felt an appropriate outcome.

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Tiemoue Bakayoko’s superb header fired Monaco into the Champions League quarter-finals as Wednesday’s 3-1 victory condemned Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to a painful exit on away goals.

Monaco’s French forward Kylian Mbappe Lottin (2nd-L) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 football match against Manchester City at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. (Pascal GUYOT/AFP)

Trailing 5-3 from the first leg in England, teenage starlet Kylian Mbappe put Monaco ahead on the night after just eight minutes at the Stade Louis II and Brazilian midfielder Fabinho converted the home side’s second just before the half hour.

Leroy Sane’s 71st-minute goal handed City a 6-5 advantage on aggregate, but Bakayoko turned home Thomas Lemar’s free-kick 13 minutes from time as Monaco claimed a famous win.

Monaco go through to Friday’s draw for the last eight in Nyon carrying French hopes following Paris Saint-Germain’s shock elimination, while Guardiola suffered his earliest Champions League exit as a manager.

“We played an exceptional second half, but the first one we forgot to be there,” Guardiola told BT Sport. “In the second half we were much, much better but it was not enough. It happens and we’ll learn, we have a team with not a lot of experience in this competition.”

Monaco hero Bakayoko will miss the first leg of the quarter-final through suspension but was delighted to advance.

“It’s an immense joy to score in the Champions League. I didn’t expect this,” said Bakayoko. “Over two games we deserved to qualify. Now we want to keep going.”

The French league leaders suffered a blow before kick-off as Radamel Falcao, who scored twice in the first leg, failed to recover from a hip injury in time and was replaced by the versatile Valere Germain.

Jemerson returned in place of the suspended Kamil Glik in defence, while Guardiola, who took charge of his 100th game in Europe, made two changes with Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov given the nod ahead of Nicolas Otamendi and Yaya Toure.

Coach Leonardo Jardim had challenged Monaco to draw inspiration from the side which dumped out Real Madrid en route to the 2004 final, recovering from a 4-2 defeat in the first leg of that year’s quarter-finals before knocking the Spanish giants out on away goals.

And the hosts were inspired by 18-year-old Mbappe, who has emerged as one of Europe’s most promising talents amid Monaco’s thrilling pursuit of the French title this season.

FAST START DAZZLES CITY

Willy Caballero stood tall to repel Mbappe’s crisp early strike as he knifed through the City defence, but the Argentine goalkeeper was helpless as the teenager poked home Bernardo Silva’s driven low cross just a minute later.

City recovered from twice falling behind in the first leg, but the opening goal emboldened Monaco as Germain unleashed a searing strike from distance that zipped not too far over.

Guardiola had emphasised the best form of defence would be attack for City, yet the visitors struggled to settle and Monaco grabbed their second goal in not dissimilar fashion on 29 minutes.

Lemar fed the ball into the overlapping run of Benjamin Mendy, a reported target of City’s this summer, and the left-back picked out Fabinho to side-foot beyond Caballero.

Mbappe’s electrifying pace posed a constant threat for City, but the Premier League side gradually began to pose Monaco problems as well although Raheem Sterling’s hesitancy allowed the hosts to clear as the England winger looked to tee up Sergio Aguero.

The Argentine striker then skied over from close range after Sane skipped past Andrea Raggi down the the left-hand flank, before Danijel Subasic thrust himself superbly in the way after Aguero was picked out by David Silva inside the area.

Sane broke in behind the Monaco backline once more but steered his effort the wrong side of the near post with Subasic charging off his line, but City finally broke through with 19 minutes left.

Sterling broke in from the right and his low shot was palmed away by Subasic, but Sane reacted quickest to thump the rebound into the roof of the net and change the complexion of the tie.

However that merely drew an immediate response from Monaco as Lemar whipped in a devilish free-kick that Bakayoko expertly planted into the far corner to consign Guardiola to a first-ever last 16 European exit.

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Atletico Madrid booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals for a fourth consecutive season but had goalkeeper Jan Oblak to thank for avoiding defeat in a 0-0 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday (Mar 15).

Bayer Leverkusen’s Javier Hernandez (centre right) is challenged by Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin (centre left) during the Champions League round of 16 second leg football match at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain. ( photo source: AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza )

Oblak produced a remarkable triple save midway through the second half as Atletico held on to their 4-2 first-leg advantage to take their place in Friday’s draw for the last eight.

“It is not easy to be in the quarter-finals four years in a row,” Oblak told BeIN Sports Spain. “I hope Atletico will continue like this, keep growing like in the last few years and I am sure we can achieve great things.”

On a night of few Atletico chances, the home fans didn’t even get to cheer the return of hero Fernando Torres.

Two weeks on from being knocked unconscious in a sickening head clash Atletico boss Diego Simeone left Torres on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

New Leverkusen boss Tayfun Korkut was taking charge of his first Champions League game after Roger Schmidt was sacked when Leverkusen’s first-leg defeat was followed by a 6-2 thrashing at Borussia Dortmund.

Korkut summoned a much-improved performance from the Germans as they forced Atletico onto the back foot for long spells.

However, the damage had already been done as the hosts registered their 17th clean sheet in their last 21 Champions League home games.

Leverkusen had the chance to bring the tie back to life after just four minutes but Kevin Volland pulled his shot across Oblak and beyond the far post.

Atletico have only ever been eliminated from the Champions League under Simeone by Real Madrid.

Javier Hernandez got Real’s winner in their quarter-final clash two years ago, but the Mexican didn’t come back to haunt Simeone’s men as he blazed over with another decent opening.

Atletico took until seven minutes before the break to threaten but then forced Bernd Leno into two fine saves in 60 seconds.

Firstly, Angel Correa was denied before Koke’s low driven shot was turned behind by the German international.

Only a poor cross from Volland denied Hernandez what should have been a tap-in at the start of the second half after great work from Julian Brandt.

At the other end, Atletico went close twice in quick succession once more as Correa danced inside two Leverkusen challenges before stabbing just wide.

Antoine Griezmann was then inches away from his 22nd goal of the season with a measured chip over Leno that floated just wide.

The highlight of the match came 21 minutes from time when Oblak pulled off an incredible triple save to end Leverkusen’s hopes of a comeback.

Brandt pounced on a slack pass from Jose Maria Gimenez and after he was denied one-on-one with Oblak, the Slovenian twice pulled himself off the ground to save Volland’s follow-up efforts.

Oblak’s work for the night wasn’t done as he still had to make saves from long-range efforts by Leon Bailey, Wendell and Kevin Kampl to prevent Atletico slumping to just a second Champions League home defeat under Simeone.

But the hosts held on to extend Spanish clubs’ winning run over German sides in European competition to 11 ties.

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Manchester United were charged on Tuesday (Mar 14) by the Football Association (FA) with failing to control their players during the explosive FA Cup quarter-final with Chelsea, English football’s ruling body said.

English referee Michael Oliver (R) shows a red card to Manchester United’s Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera (L) during their match against Chelsea in London. (AFP/Justin TALLIS)

United’s Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera was sent off in the first half shortly after referee Michael Oliver warned captain Chris Smalling about the continual fouling of Chelsea’s playmaker Eden Hazard.

Marcos Rojo was also caught on camera seemingly stamping on Hazard’s chest in the second half of the match which Chelsea won 1-0 to oust the holders, although the Argentine defender has not been charged.

The FA have taken exception more to the reaction of the players when Olivier sent off Herrera, with several surrounding the official and arguing with him over the decision.

“Manchester United have been charged for failing to control their players,” a statement from the governing body read.

“It follows an incident in the 35th minute of the FA Cup quarter final tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday (Monday).

“The club have until 6pm (1800GMT) on Friday, 17 March 2017 to respond to the charge.”

United will be relieved Rojo escaped a potential ban as Oliver’s report made clear he had seen the incident.

The League Cup winners, who are also chasing the Europa League trophy, will be without both leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Herrera for the Premier League games against struggling Middlesbrough and West Brom because of suspension.

However they are both available for United’s Europa League last-16 second leg clash with Russian side Rostov on Thursday. The first leg finished 1-1.

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A first-half penalty from Paulo Dybala helped fire Juventus into the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday (Mar 14) after a 1-0 win sent the Serie A champions through 3-0 on aggregate.

Porto’s Andre Silva (R) fights for the ball with Juventus’ Dani Alves during the UEFA Champions League football match at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP)

Porto coach Nuno Espirito Santo had hailed Juve’s 20-game unbeaten home run in Europe as he played down the Portuguese side’s chances of overturning a 2-0 first leg defeat at the Estadio do Dragao.

And the 43-year-old was right not to talk up their chances.

Despite enjoying plenty of possession in a first half that saw the hosts squander a number of chances, their bid ended when right-back Maxi Pereira saw red after handling Gonzalo Higuain’s goal-bound shot five minutes before the break.

Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan pointed to the spot and Argentinian playmaker Dybala stepped up to drill into the bottom-right corner as Iker Casillas dived the other way.

Juventus stretched their unbeaten home record in Europe to 21 games — the last time they suffered a home defeat in Europe was a 2-0 Champions League loss to Bayern Munich, in the quarter-finals, in April 2013.

However, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri warned his side must improve, whoever they are drawn against in the last eight.

“We’ll need a different kind of performance when we come up against better sides,” he said. “In the second half, with 11 against 10, we did the opposite of what we achieved in Oporto.”

Juventus won 2-0 in Portugal thanks to goals from Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves after Alex Telles was sent off on 27 minutes.

Nuno lamented his side’s failure to score a “deserved” goal, but said: “The expulsions in both games changed everything for us, and when you’re playing against a big side like Juventus it becomes difficult. They’re one of the top four or five sides in Europe.”

CASILLAS RECORD

Allegri deployed an attack-minded 4-2-3-1 formation that saw Higuain lead the Turin giants’ attack.

But it was Dybala, whose only previous Champions League goal this campaign came in a 4-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb last September, who had the majority of the chances.

The Argentinian had spoken on Monday of his desire to add to his tally in Europe, but fired wide twice in the opening stages as the hosts set the tone.

At the other end, Brazilian Francisco Soares curled directly into Gianluigi Buffon’s arms, but it was one of too few opportunities for the visitors.

Mario Mandzukic’s header was smothered by Spanish goalkeeper Casillas, who was making a record 175th appearance in European competition.

The imposing Croatian forward went closer with a header whistling wide of the far post from a corner, before Pereira flew to save Higuain’s shot with his hand after Alex Sandro’s header was parried by Casillas.

That left the visitors a man down and Dybala made no mistake from the spot to claim his third goal in the competition.

“I felt more pressure taking the penalty against AC Milan than tonight,” said Dybala, who hit a crucial, last-gasp winner in a controversial 2-1 league defeat of Milan on Friday.

“I’m happy with the goal, but also with the win and the fact we’re through.”

Juve could have had a second goal just after the restart but Casillas produced a fine reflex save at his near post to stop a wayward header by Porto midfielder Danilo.

Minutes later Buffon rushed out to close down Soares after he escaped Sandro to fire an angled shot wide of the ‘keeper’s far post.

Allegri replaced Juan Cuadrado with Pjaca for the start of the second half and the Croatian starlet saw an angled effort spin past Casillas’s far post after he controlled well under pressure on the edge of the area.

Higuain, on 66 minutes, then fired just wide after holding off two markers in the area in what was Juve’s last real chance to add to their tally.

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