Manchester City 2-1 Bristol City

The accepted wisdom is that if you try to stand toe to toe with Manchester City you will go home with a bloody nose.

Here was the evidence that it doesn’t always have to be like that. It seems bravery and ambition can still get you a long way at the Etihad Stadium in 2018.

Lee Johnson’s terrific Bristol City did not get the shock result that they and the neutrals hoped for after Bobby Reid gave them the lead with a penalty late in the first half. A man with Armani for a middle name threatened to leave City a little undressed.

29-year-old Aguero wheels off to celebrate the decisive goal in front of the jubilant City fans on Tuesday night

Aguero pictured heading home the winner as the Argentine gets to the ball ahead of Bristol City keeper Frank Fielding

Aguero came off the bench in the 70th minute at the Etihad to net the dramatic winner against the plucky Robins

Kevin De Bruyne levelled the scoring at 1-1 just 10 minutes into the second period on Tuesday night in Manchester

De Bruyne, captain on the night, has been involved in a remarkable 20 goals for City this season in all competitions

The 26-year-old City dangerman fires the ball home inside the area on 55 minutes after being picked out by Raheem Sterling

PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE 

MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Bravo 6.5; Danilo 6, Stones 5, Mangala 5, Zinchenko 6; Toure 6 (Aguero 69mins 6), B Silva 6, Gundogan 6, De Bruyne 7.5, Sane 6.5; Sterling 7. Not used: Ederson, Walker, Delph, Adarabioyo, Fernandinho, Diaz

GOALS: De Bruyne 56 

PEP GUARDIOLA: 6.5

BRISTOL CITY (4-4-2): Fielding 8; Wright 7, Flint 7.5, Baker 7.5, Magnusson 7 (Walsh 72mins 6); Brownhill 6.5, Pack 6.5, Smith 7, Bryan 7; Paterson 7, Reid 7. Not used: Steele, Taylor, Engvall, Eliasson, Kelly, Vyner.

GOALS: Reid 43 pen

BOOKED: Flint, Smith, Bryan

LEE JOHNSON: 8

REFEREE: Anthony Taylor 7

MAN OF THE MATCH: Frank Fielding 

This is how Kevin De Bruyne (No 17) levelled the scoring for Manchester City on Tuesday night. CLICK HERE to find out more from our MATCH ZONE.

Neither, though, did Pep Guardiola’s side respond well enough to end the tie here and now.

City equalised through Kevin De Bruyne just before the hour but that was as far as they got until Sergio Aguero benefited from a rare error of judgment from visiting goalkeeper Frank Fielding to nick the game with a header in the second minute of added time.

So Johnson and his Championship side return to Ashton Gate for the second leg in two weeks very much the underdogs but very much in the contest also. And they have an away goal.

Bristol City earned their second chance, too. This was no smash and grab attempt from the team who beat Manchester United in the last round. They came to Manchester to play and compete. They stuck two players up front when they could and tried to impose themselves on opponents that some teams in the Premier League are convinced cannot be beaten.

City and Guardiola were worried for a time, hence Aguero’s introduction with 20 minutes left. Guardiola wanted to go to Bristol with a lead and thanks to his most reliable goal scorer he will do.

It was close, though, and over the course of this terrific game, maybe there was a lesson, a template, for others to follow.

Sterling runs at the Bristol City defence as the runaway top flight leaders desperately searched for a winner in the first-leg

French defender Eliaquim Mangala falls to the ground awkwardly after looping a header over the Bristol City crossbar

Sterling nearly equalised for City straight after going 1-0 down but Aden Flint did brilliantly to clear the ball of the line

Flint (left) heads the ball off the line from Sterling’s shot to ensure the Championship outfit went into the break ahead 

England international Sterling reacts with shock after Flint heads the ball over the crossbar to deny him from scoring

More than 8,000 fans had taken encouragement from Bristol City’s victory over United and headed to the North West. Every one of them would have been pleased to see that Johnson had named the same outfield team which had managed to beat Jose Mourinho’s side in such dramatic fashion. Only the goalkeeper was different, with Fielding playing instead of Luke Steele.

That was a big call by Johnson, given that Fielding could expect to be the busiest man on the field at a stadium that more often than not finds City in imperious form. Even when they are not at their best — such as in beating Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday — Guardiola’s team tend to win here, usually with something to spare.

For long periods of the first half, it did not go quite to plan and then, just before the break, City handed the underdogs the lead. City were under strength as always in this competition and that was enough to invite their opponents into the contest. The way they then invited them into the ascendency was quite extraordinary.

Central defender Eliaquim Mangala always has a mistake in him, sometimes more than one. But when he gave the ball away to Josh Brownhill in the 42nd minute, another error was required for Bristol City to profit. That one came from Stones, who lunged at Reid with such lack of care and such ferocity it is a wonder he didn’t break his opponent in two.

Certainly Stones was nowhere near the ball and it was a clear penalty. Reid faced a spot-kick expert in City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo but he struck the ball hard and low with his right foot and it was enough to beat an opponent who dived the right way.

Bobby Reid (middle) celebrates with his Robins team-mates after giving his side a shock 1-0 lead from the penalty spot

Reid is mobbed by his team-mates after converting the penalty in the 44th minute of the first-leg

24-year-old Reid wheels off to celebrate after opening the scoring in front of the stunned home supporters

The ecstatic travelling supporters celebrate after seeing their side take the lead against the odds on Tuesday night

Bristol City’s Reid pictured calmly slotting the penalty into the bottom left corner in the 44th minute at the Etihad

Reid won the first-half spot-kick after defender John Stones clumsily brought him down in the penalty area 

Anthony Taylor points to the penalty spot after the English defender brought down Reid in the area late on in the first half

So Bristol City were in the lead and now their task was to avoid the kind of overwhelming reversal of fortunes that saw Burnley lead here at the weekend but eventually lose 4-1.

In the short term the plan was to get to half-time with the lead intact and that almost didn’t happen. A pass from deep played in Raheem Sterling and his lob over the goalkeeper was destined to drop into the net before Bristol defender Aden Flint managed to leap high and head the ball over.

At the break, City didn’t really deserve to be behind but they had been far from assertive. There had been chances, with De Bruyne forcing athletic saves from Fielding and Bernardo Silva showing a lack of composure when twice presented with opportunities.

But Bristol City had not wanted for ambition and that made this an open game. Before their goal they had threatened on the counter with Bravo saving low from a Marlon Pack volley and Stones taking a Jamie Paterson strike flush in the face.

Belgian international De Bruyne, who has been in fine form, tries to get to the ball but is crowded out by the opposition

Jamie Paterson pictured firing a shot at goal as City’s players try to close the 26-year-old down at the Etihad

Johnson’s team remained forward thinking after the break and were soon trying to get on the front foot once more. But from a Bristol City corner Sterling broke the length of the field to be denied by Fielding’s right hand and then a similar breakaway ended in City’s equaliser.

If anything, the visitors were guilty of over-confidence. They were terribly stretched as De Bruyne carried the ball from deep and when he played a one-two with Sterling the Belgian dropped off intelligently to receive the ball in space and drive it past Fielding first time with his right foot.

There were further scares. Fielding saved brilliantly from Sterling from six yards and then Leroy Sane shot across goal and wide.

But just as it looked like a draw, Aguero struck. Game on.

Paterson attempts to keep the ball in play as the Championship outfit looked to take a surprise early lead

The Bristol City players get into a huddle just moments before kick-off on Tuesday night in Manchester