Man City fans blamed for putting Bernardo Silva off before disastrous penalty miss

Manchester City fans have copped criticism after making Bernardo Silva wait 40 seconds before he eventually missed his penalty in the shootout.

The holders were knocked out on their own patch by Real Madrid following a tie that ended 4-4 on aggregate. City missed two of their five penalties with Bernardo and then Mateo Kovacic both fluffing their lines.

City began the penalty shootout in the best possible way as Julian Alvarez scored the opening spot kick before Ederson denied Luka Modric, which ramped up the volume inside the Etihad. Bernardo then stepped up but was left without a ball, which was being held by the crowd.

The referee gestured for another before it was eventually thrown down to the pitch. All the while Bernardo was forced to stand on the penalty spot before his shocking penalty was saved by Andriy Lunin. The Portuguese playmaker opted to loft his effort straight down the middle - with the Madrid keeper holding his nerve and standing centrally.

Kovacic's miss next proved crucial as Los Blancos produced four perfect penalties after their opening miss. Antonio Rudiger eventually notched the winning spot kick as the Spanish side set up a last four clash with Bayern Munich.

Reflecting afterwards, former City defender Joleon Lescott admitted that the wait experienced by Bernardo certainly made a difference. He said on TNT Sports : "That would have just took him out of sync and out of his rhythm. You can practice the routine, the technique, the walk up potentially, this is something you don't prepare for, the ball being in the crowd."

Rio Ferdinand added: "40 seconds by the way Joleon." Lescott then continued: "That is a long time. It may not seem that long but it's a very long time when you are waiting there and you are thinking, now do I change position? Now do I change where I go? And all of a sudden, it's a soft penalty."

Andriy Lunin stood in the middle to had a routine save
(Image: Getty Images)

Ferdinand concluded by saying: "It's a shame though as well, because it is the home fans that are delaying that penalty kick which is a shame."

City themselves had dominated the contest despite falling behind early on to Rodrygo's opener. Kevin De Bruyne was able to make the hosts' pressure count as he finished smartly on 77 minutes to make it 1-1, but Pep Guardiola's men couldn't find the winner.

The City boss said: “I absolutely don’t have any regrets – we did everything offensively and defensively. Football is about scoring goals and they did it a little bit better than us from the penalty spot."

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