AS Roma vs. Manchester City: Lessons Learned from Champions League Game
Manchester City reached the last 16 of the Champions League for the second year running thanks to a brilliant 2-0 win over Roma in the Italian capital.
The hosts—for whom a win or goalless draw would have put them through at City's expense—started the stronger, but a City side missing some of their big names weathered the storm and took control in the second half.
Samir Nasri smashed in a brilliant opener on the hour mark before teeing up full-back Pablo Zabaleta to fire home the strike which clinched victory four minutes from time.
Here is some reaction from a famous night for the English champions.
Textbook European Display Means City Finally Have Champions League Glory
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It is a long-held gripe of Manchester City supporters that their side can often get overlooked in favour of another couple of clubs in north-west England, but a night after Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League and in a season when Manchester United aren't even in it, this was all about them.
This was a textbook European display from Manuel Pellegrini's men, who did well to ride the inevitable early Roma storm—albeit fortuitously—before going on and exerting their authority on the game through simply playing it higher up the field.
The key to this was the excellent display of the midfielder Fernandinho—to whom we'll come later—but the longer the match went on, you got the feeling that a City goal was coming, and when it arrived, it was spectacular.
Samir Nasri Deserves His Moment in the Spotlight
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There was something which obviously stuck around about the time that Samir Nasri left Arsenal—and in fairness, he hasn't done much to change opinions on him since then—but whatever you think of him as a person, you can't deny his quality as a player.
Technically excellent and a much harder worker than he gets credit for, the one major criticism you'd make of the erstwhile France international is that he doesn't score enough goals.
His last one before Wednesday's came back in May on the day City sealed the Premier League title, yet here he was cutting inside and burying a terrific shot off the post to give his side the lead on their most crucial evening of the season.
Should he start to do that a little more often, then he might start earning a little more respect.
City fans will love him right now, though, and that is all that matters.
Fernandinho Stepped Up to the Plate When City Needed Him Most
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For much of the season, Fernandinho has worn the look of a player still haunted by the events of a World Cup semi-final evening when he was overrun by German midfielders.
He hasn't got close to the levels we saw from him in his first season with City in the last campaign, but here he surpassed that.
Playing in front of a Vincent Kompany-less defence which needed protecting, and without Yaya Toure by his side, the Brazilian was simply sensational. He broke down Roma attacks and ensured that the home side's more gifted players—Miralem Pjanic and Francesco Totti—simply couldn't get on the ball.
It forced Roma into the ball over the top to Gervinho more and more, with City seemingly happy to take that chance that one way or another, they would snuff out the threat of the erratic Ivorian. And they did.
Joe Hart Delivered a Captain’s Performance
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One of those ways was excellent goalkeeping from Joe Hart, who was in sublime form as he kept out one of the best attacking sides in Serie A.
His early save from Jose Holebas set the tone, and he was later to produce even better ones from Gervinho and Kostas Manolas to deny an increasingly desperate Roma side who simply couldn't beat him.
On a night when Hart wore the captain's armband in the absences of Kompany and Toure, he delivered a captain's performance as good as any he's put in for City before.
Another Champions League Chance Bypasses Francesco Totti
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It was a night of frustration for Roma icon Francesco Totti, who wore that frustration all over his face when he was replaced by Mattia Destro with 20 minutes remaining.
At 38 years old, Totti has seen another chance to win the Champions League pass him by, and there must now be serious doubts about whether he'll ever get to lift the trophy.
As we saw with Steven Gerrard at Anfield on Tuesday, being a one-club man can often have its downsides.
