Man City defender Aymeric Laporte under fire after role in Real Madrid goal

Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has been questioned for his role in Real Madrid's second goal in the Champions League semi-final.

Winger Vinicius Junior halved the deficit for the second time in the tie, just two minutes after Phil Foden headed in City's third. The Brazilian spun Fernandinho on the halfway line and powered towards goal before firing beyond Ederson.

As the counter-attack was in-flow, Oleksandr Zinchenko was marking Karim Benzema with the Spanish international in the mid-space but it was the challenge from Rodri which forced Vinicius into firing goalwards. And the lack of action from Laporte, brought criticism from BT Sports pundits.

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Steve McManaman said: "This was a real ugly goal for Manchester City to concede. Fernandinho tries to do the same for [his assist for] the Phil Foden goal, it is almost similar as it was a mistake by Vinicius (Junior) for the Foden goal, but this time he reads it.

"Ferland Mendy plays him the ball, but this time Vinicius is alert and he knows he (Fernandinho) is coming so he dummies it. At that point, Fernandinho needs help in that position and it should be (Aymeric) Laporte, he has to get across there, he (Laporte) has to forget about (Karim) Benzema and go and close down Vinicius."

Later in the game, it went from bad to worse for Laporte after he was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area. Rio Ferdinand added: "If you look at the replay, (Oleksandr) Zinchenko is actually marking (Karim) Benzema and that should release (Aymeric) Laporte to go and close down Vinicius Junior but he doesn’t. To be fair to Vinicius, he did not play well tonight, but he had one chance, and took it."

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