Tale of two cities for Mancester
IT WAS the best of times and the worst of times: Manchester City battled back to winning ways, coming from a goal down to overwhelm Hoffenheim 2-1 in the Champions League with a brilliant Leroy Sane double that ensured they progressed to the last-16 as winners of Group F last night.
However, Manchester United endured an undignified end to their topsy-turvy group stage campaign, losing 2-1 at already-eliminated Valencia and missing out on their chance to top Group H.
City, the already-qualified English champions, who had suffered their first league defeat in 22 matches at Chelsea on Saturday, needed a point to guarantee top spot, but were quickly shocked again when going behind to an Andrej Kramaric penalty.
Yet in a hugely entertaining and open encounter, German star Sane inspired the comeback against the Bundesliga side with a magnificent free kick moments before the break and another neatly-taken left foot finish just after the hour.
The win, which should have been far more decisive such was City’s dominance with 25 goal attempts, saw them top the table on 13 points, ahead of Olympique Lyonnais, who qualified after they had drawn 1-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Hoffenheim made a bright, enterprising start, with Kramaric putting them ahead from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after Aymeric Laporte had bundled over Benjamin Hubner in the box.
Yet after the Croat had continued his remarkable run of scoring for both club and country for a ninth match in a row, City poured on the pressure and in first-half stoppage time, Sane produced a magnificent curling leftfooted free kick to equalise.
The one-way traffic continued after the break and as Jesus and Otamendi spurned chances and Sane somehow conspired to make a mess of the finish after Raheem Sterling had sprinted clear down the field from just outside his own box.
Yet the 22-year-old, in searing form, scored a second goal with a cool 61st-minute finish after again being put in by Sterling.
United were already guaranteed a last-16 berth but needed to win and to see Juventus lose to group minnows Young Boys if they were to take the top spot.
One-half of the unlikely scenario materialised as the Swiss side beat the Italian giants 2-1, but United blew their chance with a defeat that consigned them to second place in Group H.
With one eye on Sunday’s trip to Premier League leaders and historic rivals Liverpool, Jose Mourinho probably contributed to the loss by rotating his side, making eight changes from Saturday’s 4-1 win over Fulham, including bringing record-signing Paul Pogba back into the fold.