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 the Portuguese giants at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night. Man City won the game 3-1 but an incident between Pepe and Sterling grabbed the attention of viewers. In a deeply frustrating second half for Pepe, the 37-year-old appeared to drag his knee into Sterling's body after the 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 the Etihad after some individual brilliance from Luis Diaz put the hosts in front after just 14 minutes. However, a penalty conceded by Pepe allowed Sergio Aguero to level the scores just six minutes later. Stunning goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres after the break secured a 3-1 victory for Pep Guardiola's side. 

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However, in the final 10 minutes of the 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. The Portuguese defender clashed with Sterling after the England international went down softly looking for a penalty and yelled at the 25-year-old before dragging his knee into the body of the City forward. Despite VAR in place for the Champions League games, no action was taken as the veteran centre-back escaped punishment with only a yellow card. 

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Sterling was the player that initially won the penalty for City after Pepe's rash tackle in the first half and it appeared that the Porto captain wanted to exact revenge on the English star. Fans on social media were quick to react to the incident with many left puzzled as to how Pepe - known 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 not a red card for Pepe? What is the use of VAR if it's not being used correctly?" while another added, "Can't believe Pepe still assaults people on the 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

Image Credits - FC Porto Instagram