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| Raheem Sterling clinched City's place as group toppers |
BIRTHDAY boy Raheem Sterling was the toast as Manchester City enjoyed a coming of age party in the Champions League.
Sterling chose the occasion of his 21st birthday to produce his best performance since joining City from Liverpool in the summer and paid back a big chunk of his £49m fee in the process.
He scored twice and had a hand in the other two goals as City produced a remarkable late charge to beat Borussia Monchengladbach and finish group winners for the first time in their sixth season in the competition.
Sterling scored twice and substitute Wilfried Bony also found the net in a remarkable five minute spell between the 80th and 85th minutes as City came from 2-1 down to win 4-2.
They needed Seville to beat Juventus as well to finish in pole position and with the Spaniards duly obliging it was the perfect ending to a night when City put manager Manuel Pellegrini and their fans through the emotional wringer.
It means they will avoid teams like Barcelona - who have beaten them in the last two seasons in the last 16 - Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
To make the life even sweeter for City and their fans, neighbours United crashed out in Wolfsburg.
Sterling, who has now hit eight goals for City, three of them in Europe, said: "It's something I have been dreaming of all my life, scoring in the Champions League and scoring on my birthday makes it even more special.
"I knew if we had the chances we would take them so credit to the boys. The second half we slowed it down a bit and worked the ball a bit better.
"It's a brilliant feeling for the boys and we have worked hard and I think we deserved it. We made it hard and difficult at times but we showed the character we can show.
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| Kolarov and Fernandinho celebrate with Sterling as the striker scored twice for Man City |
"The most important thing was avoiding the big teams in the next round and trying to get a fair draw and hopefully we can do it over two legs. It's feet up now with my family and two daughters."
Pellegrini suggested it could be the turning point in Sterling's City career.
"It was his birthday, he is 21 years old, so I told him the minimum he has to do was to score two goals. I think it will be very important for him.
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| Borussia Monchengladbach gave Man City a fright in Manchester |
"It is obviously better to finish first because you can avoid important teams like Bayern, Barca and Real for just one stage more. But if you hope to win the Champions League , you have to play against the big teams eventually."
But as they often do in Europe, City made hard work of it against in-form Borussia who had beaten Bayern Munich on Saturday and had lost only one of their previous 15 games.
City took a 15th minute lead through David Silva who was set up by Sterling's lever back heel but were stunned by goals before half-time from Julian Korb and Raffael that underlined their worrying defensive vulnerability.
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| Bony wrapped up top spot in Group D with City's fourth goal |
Korb scored with a first time shot after Fabian Johnson¹s surging run from the half-way line had opened up City. And Raffael finished off a pitch-length move with the final touch after Johnson had helped on Oscar Wendt¹s cross.
City improved in the second half but couldn¹t find a way through. But with news filtering through that Juve were behind in Spain they re-doubled their efforts and Sterling equalised from Gael Clichy¹s cut-back in the 80th minute.
A minute later he added his second from sub Bony¹s pass and then Bony scored himself from a cross by Aleksander Kolarov who had exchanged passes with Sterling.
If key stars Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany can get themselves fit and stay injury-free, then maybe City can start to believe that this could be the season where they finally make an impact in Europe.
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