Manchester City cruised through to the Champions League quarter-finals despite an underwhelming goalless draw with Sporting CP on Wednesday night.
City earned the right to stay in first gear having got the job done comprehensively in the first leg, winning 5-0 in Lisbon and essentially making this one a dead rubber.
The first half passed with very little incident as the hosts attempted to pass their opponents to death and Sporting sat deep as they looked to avoid further embarrassment.
Pep Guardiola's side could and perhaps should have had a penalty when Gabriel Jesus was barged over inside the box nine minutes in, but their appeals were waved away. The Brazilian dusted himself off to fire a dangerous ball across the six-yard box midway through the half, but Raheem Sterling was unable to get on the end of it.
Phil Foden forced a rare save from Antonio Adan with a deflected effort from range before turning creator with a cute pass around the corner for Sterling, but the goalkeeper read his attempted dink.
City thought they had the lead two minutes into the second half when substitute Riyad Mahrez eventually found Jesus at the end of a long run and he squeezed a shot inside the near post, but the goal was disallowed for a marginal offside following a VAR review.
The match was so quiet that Guardiola even saw fit to withdraw first-choice goalkeeper Ederson and replace him with usual third-choice Scott Carson. Ironically, the former England stopper was called into action almost immediately, doing well to deny Paulinho in a one-on-one.
City had two further openings in stoppage time, but couldn't find a winner. John Stones headed a corner onto the roof of the net before Sterling dragged a strike into the side-netting with the last kick of the match.
Here's how the City players rated...
MAN CITY PLAYER RATINGS - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Ederson (GK) - 6/10 - Barely had to do anything. Used his feet well as usual. Bizarrely subbed.
CJ Egan-Riley (RB) - 7/10 - A Champions League debut for the 19-year-old. Very impressive in the opening stages, passing coolly and showing some flair.
John Stones (CB) - 6/10 - Saw lots of the ball and demonstrated his prowess in possession.
Aymeric Laporte (CB) - 6/10 - Very coolly chapêau'd a striker and took a whack to the face. Tidy intervention when Islam Slimani had half an opening.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) - 6/10 - Solid performance given what must have been in the back of his mind. Marcus Edwards caused him some problems off the bench.
2. Midfielders
Fernandinho (DM) - 6/10 - A 100th Champions League appearance. Typically sound at the base of midfield, Sporting couldn't get near him at times.
Ilkay Gundogan (CM) - 6/10 - Passed well but could have perhaps had more of an influence on proceedings.
Bernardo Silva (CM) - 5/10 - Some probing runs but nowhere near as influential as the first leg - not that he needed to be. Withdrawn at half-time.
3. Forwards
Gabriel Jesus (RW) - 6/10 - A little loose in possession early on. On the end of some dubious challenges and perhaps should have had a penalty for one of them. Clever finish chalked off by VAR. Booked
Phil Foden (CF) - 6/10 - Dropped deep to become the playmaker, caused some issues and forced a half-decent save. Subbed at half-time for a rest.
Raheem Sterling (LW) - 4/10 - Couldn't get on the end of a Jesus cross and should have scored when Foden played him in. Spurned another late chance.
4. Substitutes
Riyad Mahrez (RW) - 6/10 - Thought he had an assist moments after coming on, but it was ruled out. Some dazzling dribbling.
John McAtee (LW) - 6/10 - Spritely, with some nice touches and ball carries.
Scott Carson (GK) - 7/10 - Guardiola weirdly decided to give him a game. Made an excellent save one-v-one.
Luke Mbete(CB) - N/A - Another Champions League debut.
Source : 90min