Pepe shows malicious side again by dragging his knee into Raheem Sterling's body; watch

FC Porto centre-back Pepe might have considered himself a tad fortunate to receive only a yellow card after attempting to knee Raheem Sterling on his head during Man City's Champions League game against Portuguese giants at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night. Man City won game 3-1 but an incident between Pepe and Sterling grabbed attention of viewers. In a deeply frustrating second half for Pepe, 37-year-old appeared to drag his knee into Sterling's body after English attacker went down looking for a penalty. 

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Man City vs Porto: Pepe shows his nasty side again in a clash with Raheem Sterling

Sergio Conceicao's side got off to a flyer at Etihad after some individual brilliance from Luis Diaz put hosts in front after just 14 minutes. However, a penalty conceded by Pepe allowed Sergio Aguero to level scores just six minutes later. Stunning goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres after break secured a 3-1 victory for Pep Guardiola's side. 

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However, in final 10 minutes of game, a frustrated Pepe was involved in a controversial incident with Raheem Sterling and it was a surprise that Porto weren't reduced to 10 men. Portuguese defender clashed with Sterling after England international went down softly looking for a penalty and yelled at 25-year-old before dragging his knee into body of City forward. Despite VAR in place for Champions League games, action was taken as veteran centre-back escaped punishment with only a yellow card. 

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Sterling was player that initially won penalty for City after Pepe's rash tackle in first half and it appeared that Porto captain wanted to exact revenge on English star. Fans on social media were quick to react to incident with many left puzzled as to how Pepe - kwn for his nasty streak during his 10 years at Real Madrid - hadn't received a red card for his reaction. One wrote, "How is that t a red card for Pepe? What is use of VAR if it's t being used correctly?" while ar added, "Can't believe Pepe still assaults people on pitch at 37, such a shame."

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UCL results on Wednesday night

• RB Salzburg 2-2 Lokomotiv Moscow
• Real Madrid 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk
• Ajax 0-1 Liverpool
• Manchester City 3-1 Porto
• Midtjylland 0-4 Atalanta
• Olympiacos 1-0 Marseille
• Bayern Munich 4-0 Atletico Madrid
• Inter Milan 2-2 Borussia Monchengladbach

Im Credits - FC Porto Instagram