CL: Ten-man Man City held by Copenhagen after missed penalty

 Ten-man Manchester City missed a penalty and had a goal ruled out as they were made to wait to reach the last 16 of the Champions League by Copenhagen in a VAR-dominated contest.

A dramatic opening saw two contentious decisions set the tone for the evening.

Rodri’s superb 25-yard effort for City was ruled out after Riyad Mahrez was penalised for handling, while the visitors benefited by being awarded a penalty when the ball struck home defender Nicolai Boilesen on the arm as he competed for a corner with Manuel Akanji.

But Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara brilliantly saved Mahrez’s spot-kick to the delight of a raucous Parken Stadium crowd before Pep Guardiola’s side had Sergio Gomez sent-off for a professional foul on 19-year-old forward Hakon Haraldsson five minutes later.

The decision again came after the Portuguese referee Artur Dias was referred to the pitch-side monitor and left the English champions forced to reshape and play the final hour a man down.

City arrived in the Danish capital with the expectation of a win confirming their progression to the knockout stages with two games to spare.

Erling Haaland was left on the bench against opponents that had suffered a 5-0 thrashing in Manchester just under a week ago. Explaining his decision not to play the Norwegian, Guardiola said: “He finished the game against Southampton so, so tired and didn’t recover well.