Jesus-Sterling show helps City romp to 6-0 victory
MANCHESTER: Raheem Sterling went from the farcical to the sublime in helping Manchester City to a 6-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk and the brink of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stage on Wednesday.
The England winger provided the main talking point in another convincing victory for City when he stubbed his toe in the turf as he attempted a shot in the 24th minute and toppled over. Referee Viktor Kassai awarded a penalty despite there being no contact with a defender — much to the amazement of Shakhtar’s players, some of whom even laughed at the decision — and Gabriel Jesus converted the spot kick for 2-0 and the first of his three goals on the night. “We don’t like to score a goal in that situation,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “It was really clear.”
Sterling showed much more poise in scoring City’s third goal, by picking up the ball 40 meters out, powering through two would-be tacklers and curling a fierce shot into the top corner from the edge of the area in the 48th. It was the run and finish of a man in form, with Sterling having scored twice in the Premier League this past weekend as well.
Jesus made it 4-0 in the 72nd, again from the penalty spot after David Silva was tripped by Taras Stepanenko, before Riyad Mahrez and Jesus - with a goal that
CITY STAYED IN FIRST PLACE IN GROUP F, BUT MOVED THREE POINTS AHEAD OF LYON. CITY NEED ONE POINT FROM THEIR LAST TWO GAMES FOR A TOPTWO FINISH
completed his hat trick - wrapped up the scoring. Silva had put City 1-0 ahead with a close-range finish in the 13th.
City stayed in first place in Group F, but moved three points ahead of Lyon after the French club drew 2-2 against Hoffenheim. The English champions need one more point from their last two games to be certain of a top-two finish.
The official behind the goal - used in UEFA-run competitions instead of a video assistant referee — appeared to have a good view of the trip but somehow didn’t spot it.
“The referees, I said a long time ago, must be helped,” Guardiola said. “They want to make a good performance, they don’t want to make mistakes. But today the game is quick, fast; the players are more skilled. It takes three seconds, four seconds, 10 seconds, for someone involved to say it’s no penalty, carry on.”
Asked if Sterling could have owned up, Guardiola said “he could do that, yes” before pointing to a goal City had wrongly disallowed in the second leg of last season’s quarterfinal against Liverpool.