GOAL

Maxwel Cornet and Moussa Dembele continue to haunt Manchester City as the Lyon stars equalled Lionel Messi on Saturday with their goals against the Premier League side.

The duo combined to score three goals on Saturday, leading Lyon to the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-1 victory over City.

Cornet left Pep Guardiola's side stunned in the first half of the Champions League quarter-final as he fired underdogs Lyon into the lead.

Cornet's big moment came in the 23rd minute as Lyon forward Karl Toko Ekambi broke free from the City backline.

Following a spectacular tackle from Eric Garcia to dispossess Toko Ekambi, Cornet pounced as he fired a shot past Ederson and into the back of the net.

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The goal gave Lyon a 1-0 lead early, but it wasn't the first time Cornet got the better of the City defence.

Cornet previously terrorised the City rearguard in the 2018-19 Champions League, as Lyon faced off with Pep Guardiola's side in the group stage.

After scoring the first of two goals in a 2-1 win at the Etihad in the first match of the group stage, Cornet fired two more in their second clash, a 2-2 draw back in France.

In the second half of Saturday's clash, City fired back through Kevin De Bruyne, with the Belgian levelling the match at one apiece before Dembele added two goals of his own to seal Lyon's win.

Dembele had previously fired a brace as a member of Celtic, as the French forward led the way in a 3-3 draw with City in September 2016.

With Saturday's goals, Cornet and Dembele each have four goals against City in the Champions League, giving them the joint-most goals against the club in the competition since Guardiola took over in 2016.

Only Messi has scored the same amount since the Catalan arrived at the Etihad, with the Argentine firing four times as Barcelona faced off with his former manager back in the group stage in 2016.

Cornet has not had a particularly prolific campaign for Lyon, having fired only four goals in 22 Ligue 1 matches this season.

The Ivorian international joined Lyon from Metz in 2015, having made at least 36 appearances in each of his first five full seasons with the Ligue 1 side. 

Dembele, meanwhile, joined Lyon in 2018, scoring 31 league goals over his first two seasons with the club.

Lyon finished the 2019-20 campaign seventh in Ligue 1 after the French season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The French side did, however, stun Juventus to advance to the quarter-finals, going through on away goals despite losing the second leg 2-1.