MANCHESTER CITY PROVED that they can cope without Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure after beating Roma 2-0 in the Stadio Olimpico to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.
Aguero, the Premier League’s top scorer with 14 goals so far this season, is currently sidelined with a knee problem while Toure was suspended for the crucial clash.
However, Manuel Pellegrini’s men clinched victory without their two key players as Samir Nasri opened the scoring before Pablo Zabaleta sealed victory late on.
“The performance of the team was amazing. It was important for me to score because after my surgery I took a little bit of time to come back to my full level,” Nasri told Sky Sports.
“Yaya [Toure] wasn’t there, Kun [Aguero] wasn’t there… it was important for us to show that we are a team and we did it tonight.”
Goalkeeper Joe Hart played a key role for City, tipping Kostas Manolas’ header onto the post with the game still delicately poised at 1-0, and Nasri praised the England international for his part in the victory.
“The manager told us to take our time. The game is 95 minutes. We won our last game against Bayern in the last minute as well,” he added.
“We knew we had to be patient and we did it. We scored and we won the game. My strike was important but at 1-0, the save Hart made was amazing and helped us as well.”
– Goal.com
