MANCHESTER: Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic blasted referee Pavel Kralovec after he awarded Manchester City a last-gasp penalty for a questionable handball by the Serb in their Champions League match this morning.

City striker Sergio Aguero's shot from point blank inadvertently struck the arm of the 23-year-old with Borussia leading the game 1-0 and Mario Balotelli stepped to snatch a dramatic late point for the English champions.

Marco Reus had earlier given the Germans the lead in the match at Etihad, after he latched on to Jack Rodwell's stray pass before confidently dispatching past Joe Hart.

However, Dortmund were made to pay for missing a glut of opportunities when Balotelli converted from the penalty spot.

But after witnessing his side drop two valuable points in Group D, Subotic felt harshly done by.

"Never. Not a chance," he told Sky Sports.

"He shoots from half a yard and I just have my hand. I've just seen the pictures, but obviously I have a hand, I can't cut it off and he hits it.

"I think it's clear to see in the pictures that I wasn't trying to get to the ball because I didn't have time to react. Therefore, it was never in my life a penalty."

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp believes his side have taken a big step forward after the draw.

Klopp expressed his disappointment at failing to hold on to the lead but feels Dortmund are showing signs of real progress in this season's competition.

"I am a little bit annoyed about this result, even though City deserved a draw as well. You cannot keep out the incredible talent of City for 90 minutes," he said.

"We had them pinned down, so of course you'd like to take the three points in that case. We had countless chances, despite being the away team.

"However, we can build on this performance, as we were very disciplined tactically. It was a big step forward for us."

Dortmund have gained four points from their opening two matches but face a stern test when they host Real Madrid on Oct 24.

Last season, they finished bottom of their group and Klopp will be hoping to reach the knockout stages this time around.

- mD