Manchester City beat German champions Bayern Munich 2-0 on Wednesday, but it was not enough to avoid elimination from the Champions League.
Napoli went into Matchday six one point above City in the race for qualification from Group A, and the Italian club sealed their progress to the last 16 at City’s expense with a 2-0 win at Villarreal.
It proved to be a bad night for the city of Manchester, with Manchester United also crashing out of Europe’s top competition after a 2-1 defeat at FC Basel.
Bayern had already sealed progress to the last 16 as Group A winners, and responded by resting key players such as Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez and Thomas Mueller for this game.
City almost took advantage with a 16th minute free kick from David Silva that went in, but the goal was disallowed when Joleon Lescott was harshly judged to have fouled goalkeeper Jorg Butt.
Spanish playmaker Silva continued to impress throughout the first half, and gave City a 37th minute lead when he unleashed an unstoppable volley past Butt.
The Citizens almost doubled their lead before half-time, but Sergio Aguero had his goal-bound effort cleared off the line by former City defender Jerome Boateng.
There was optimism throughout the Etihad Stadium at half-time, with Napoli drawing 0-0 at Villarreal, a result that would have been enough to see City snatch qualification as group runners up.
City took a 2-0 lead within seven minutes of the restart when Edin Dzeko played in Yaya Toure, and the Ivorian midfielder beat Butt with a neat finish.
Around 20 minutes into the second half, the atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium took a turn for the worse, but it was not the fault of the home team. News of Napoli taking a 1-0 lead at Villarreal filtered around the stadium, and when Marek Hamsik put Napoli 2-0 up just over 10 minutes later, City knew their bid for glory was doomed.
The final minutes of this game were played out in an eerily silent atmosphere with neither team creating a noteworthy chance. When the whistle was blown on this 2-0 win, celebrations were muted from a City team that knew they would have to settle for a spot in the UEFA Europa League.
LINEUPS
MAN – Hart, Kompany, Lescott, Savic, Clichy, Barry, Nasri, Silva (Johnson 83), Y Toure (Balotelli 81), Dzeko (De Jong 77), Aguero.
BAY – Butt, Rafinha, Boateng, Contento, Badstuber, Pranjic, Alaba, Dias, Tymoschuk, Petersen (Usami 81), Olic.
SCORING SUMMARY
MAN – David Silva (Edin Dzeko) 37’
MAN – Yaya Toure (Edin Dzeko) 52’
LiveSoccerTV Man of the Match: David Silva (Manchester City)
Attendance: 46,002
It proved to be a bad night for the city of Manchester, with Manchester United also crashing out of Europe’s top competition after a 2-1 defeat at FC Basel.
Bayern had already sealed progress to the last 16 as Group A winners, and responded by resting key players such as Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez and Thomas Mueller for this game.
City almost took advantage with a 16th minute free kick from David Silva that went in, but the goal was disallowed when Joleon Lescott was harshly judged to have fouled goalkeeper Jorg Butt.
Spanish playmaker Silva continued to impress throughout the first half, and gave City a 37th minute lead when he unleashed an unstoppable volley past Butt.
The Citizens almost doubled their lead before half-time, but Sergio Aguero had his goal-bound effort cleared off the line by former City defender Jerome Boateng.
There was optimism throughout the Etihad Stadium at half-time, with Napoli drawing 0-0 at Villarreal, a result that would have been enough to see City snatch qualification as group runners up.
City took a 2-0 lead within seven minutes of the restart when Edin Dzeko played in Yaya Toure, and the Ivorian midfielder beat Butt with a neat finish.
Around 20 minutes into the second half, the atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium took a turn for the worse, but it was not the fault of the home team. News of Napoli taking a 1-0 lead at Villarreal filtered around the stadium, and when Marek Hamsik put Napoli 2-0 up just over 10 minutes later, City knew their bid for glory was doomed.
The final minutes of this game were played out in an eerily silent atmosphere with neither team creating a noteworthy chance. When the whistle was blown on this 2-0 win, celebrations were muted from a City team that knew they would have to settle for a spot in the UEFA Europa League.
LINEUPS
MAN – Hart, Kompany, Lescott, Savic, Clichy, Barry, Nasri, Silva (Johnson 83), Y Toure (Balotelli 81), Dzeko (De Jong 77), Aguero.
BAY – Butt, Rafinha, Boateng, Contento, Badstuber, Pranjic, Alaba, Dias, Tymoschuk, Petersen (Usami 81), Olic.
SCORING SUMMARY
MAN – David Silva (Edin Dzeko) 37’
MAN – Yaya Toure (Edin Dzeko) 52’
LiveSoccerTV Man of the Match: David Silva (Manchester City)
Attendance: 46,002
