A month ago, few would have imagined that City would be able to qualify for the knockout stages with such an uphill battle with two games to go. However, a spectacular 2-0 win at Roma has ensured The Blues’ name goes into the hat for the round of 16 draw next week after Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri scored two of the most important goals of our recent European campaigns.
City were still without Vincent Kompany, who didn’t recover in time to make the squad despite training on Tuesday. David Silva made it back in time to make the bench, whilst Aleksandar Kolarov was on there for the second game running with Clichy’s recent good form. Fernandinho won his race to be fit and managed to start alongside Fernando in the centre of midfield.
The first half started in the way many would have expected it to, with the Italian hosts holding much of the possession against their visitors. Radja Nainggolana and Gervinho were particular threats down the wings but Mangala and Demichelis were able to cope with the threats thrown at them by their opponents. Defender Holebas also had a chance when no-one spotted his run, allowing him time on goal. Whilst a mix of Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta kept his shot out, it was an early warning sign for The Blues to step up their game at an early stage.
Jesus Navas also had a goal disallowed that would have put City in prime position. His shot from outside the box deflected past Morgan De Sanctis in the Roma goal, but the Spaniard’s finish was disallowed because of a foul by Edin Džeko on Holebas in the build-up to the goal.
Gervinho was a threat down the left against Clichy for much of the first half, drawing big saves from Hart on more than one occasion. With Gervinho’s pace giving him an advantage against Clichy, he was able to get away in the left channel, and drew low diving saves from Hart to keep the scores level – and City still in the game.
As the half went on, The Blues grew into the match after struggling for possession in the early stages. The central midfield partnership of Fernandinho and Fernando started to work well together, and possession was won back higher up the pitch giving the City attackers the chances they craved. Milner took a couple of shots on De Sanctis, and Džeko was provided with some half-chances from high balls, but The Blues failed to properly capitalise on their chances.
In stark contrast to the beginning of the first half, City took control of the second as they pushed on for a goal, with a goal still needed. Pjanic tried to net one for the hosts when his long shot deflected off Joe Hart, but Roma couldn’t really make their way back into the game.
Eventually, on 60 minutes, City got the goal they so desperately needed thanks to Samir Nasri, a player who’s been so important to City in recent games. He received the ball in the left channel, and needed only a couple of touches before setting himself, and firing off a shot from 25 yards. It rocketed past De Sanctis in the Roma net, in off the post to send the travelling Blues wild.
Ten minutes later, Roma also had a way back into the game thanks to Manolas, who headed against the post with Joe Hart beaten. Seconds later, there were shouts for handball against Martin Demichelis from a corner, after Hart missed the ball and Demichelis blocked a header on the line in the middle of a shaky couple of minutes for City.
Pablo Zabaleta managed to seal the win on 86 minutes with his second goal in a week. He slid the ball under Morgan De Sanctis in the box to double the City lead with minutes to go, the finish being almost as cool as the chip over Costel Pantilimon last Wednesday.
With the unfortunate results in the early games, the entire squad deserves some special level of praise for qualifying in such a fashion. Few could have expected them to win as they did against Bayern or in Rome, but the recent good form has been a massive factor in that. It also showed we can win and we can progress without the influence of Sergio Agüero, something that is very good to know with the Argentine out for up to two months.
City now move on to the challenge of Leicester City on Saturday, and await the draw of the Champions League on December 15th.
