Manchester City miss chance to reach knockouts as Walker ends game in goal

MILAN: Manchester City missed the chance to qualify for the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, being held to a 1-1 draw by Atalanta in a game they finished with right-back Kyle Walker in goal.Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson came off at half-time with substitute Claudio Bravo sent off in the final 10 minutes.City had gone ahead with an early Raheem Sterling goal on seven minutes at the San Siro, but Croatian Mario Pasalic headed in the equaliser four minutes after the break to earn his side their first Champions League point.Man City are top of Group C with 10 points from four games, with Shaktar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb both on five.The match finished amid drama when Bravo was shown a straight red card for bringing down Josip Ilicic nine minutes from time.After minutes of confusion, Pep Guardiola finally pulled off Riyad Mahrez with Walker taking Bravo´s shirt.Walker just about kept out Ruslan Malinovsky´s effort from the resulting free-kick but Atalanta failed to take advantage in the closing stages.City had dominated the first half, with Sterling opening the scoring by slotting into the corner after a clever flick from Gabriel Jesus.But the Brazilian missed a penalty before the break, dragging an awful effort wide after an Ilicic handball.The second half was more evenly balanced, with the Bergamo side pushing forward.The Italians levelled when Alejandro Gomez crossed for Pasalic to power a header past Bravo.

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