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Manchester City 6 Shakhtar Donetsk 0: Raheem Sterling the centre of attention in Champions League rout

REUTERS
REUTERS

Manchester City hit Shakhtar Donetsk for six with a stunning 6-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium - but Pep Guardiola's men will need to wait to seal their place in the Champions League knockout round.

David Silva's early strike gave City the lead and a bizarre penalty award in favour of Raheem Sterling gave Gabriel Jesus the chance to score from the penalty spot, which he did confidently.

Sterling then scored a wonderful goal to make it three in two, curling past Andriy Pyatov from 20 yards after a delightful solo run, before two more goals from Jesus and one from Mahrez sealed the rout.

But Hoffenheim's 2-2 draw with Lyon means City will need to wait until matchday five to seal their progress.

Pep Guardiola chose to rest key trio Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and Nicolas Otamendi ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby but it's fair to say his side coped well without them.

Right from the off, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez were taking turns to cause problems down the flank. And it didn't take the hosts long to get in front.

Mahrez waited for support down the right before taking it into his own hands, beating Ismaily for pace before delivering a low cross into the area for Silva to tap in.

Then came the controversy. Sterling was put through by Silva and goes down in the box under the challenge from Matvyenko. However, replays showed the England international kicked the ground before going over, but the referee pointed to the spot.

Gabriel Jesus stepped up and rolled it into the corner to make it 2-0. Even despite Shakhtar's understandable protests, the scoreline was just.

There could be no arguments about the third, however, when Sterling left three defenders for dead with a blistering run and curled an unstoppable strike into the far corner from 20 yards.

City were in full control and when Taras Stepanenko inexplicably slid into Silva in the box, Kassai certainly got it right this time. Jesus stepped up again and found the top corner this time.

Mahrez made it five late on, nutmegging Pyatov with a close-range volley after being found by substitute Ilkay Gundogan.

And Jesus sealed the hat-trick in stoppage-time, lobbing Pyatov from outside the area to clinch an emphatic victory.