Manchester City secured their spot in the last sixteen of this season’s UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 victory away from home at the Stadio Olimpico this evening as AS Roma failed to make best use of their home advantage, despite having arguably the best chances of the match inside the first-half.

AS Roma

Morgan De Sanctis – 6

The Italian goalkeeper actually had fairly little to do with Roma controlling the majority of the opening exchanges and City looking to play on the counter-attack. De Sanctis did look shaky with the ball at his feet with a lack of confidence stemming from his error at the weekend. Was eventually beaten by a fantastic strike from Samir Nasri.

Maicon – 6

The Brazilian full-back formerly of Manchester City was unable to have the same impact going forward he did in the previous encounter at the Etihad. Was restricted to playing inside his own half and added little to the match.

Kostas Manolas – 7

The Greek international played well putting in a number of key interceptions and blocks to halt Manchester City’s attacks, particularly in the first-half. Didn’t really deserve to be on the losing side but this continues a long line of impressive performances for the Greek in his debut season in Italy’s capital.

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – 6

The on-loan Newcastle defender had a quiet evening with no real mistakes made, was caught out positionally for Pablo Zabaleta’s goal late on but by then the game was almost certainly out of Roma’s reach.

Jose Holebas – 6

Beat Ashley Cole to selection but again couldn’t venture forward as he would have liked with City very compact in midfield.

Radja Nainggolan – 7

The Belgian put in another impressive performance at the heart of Roma’s midfield in the absence of both Daniele de Rossi and Kevin Strootman. Would have liked to have more of an impact going forward but was disciplined in his defensive duties.

Seydou Keita – 5

A bold choice given the nature of the match but understandable with Roma needing to avoid conceding a goal to assure qualification. Keita struggled to pick up the rhythm of the game with large portions of the evening passing him by.

Miralem Pjanic – 5

The Bosnian, normally a creative hub for Rudi Garcia’s side was largely disappointing with the physically domineering double-pivot of Fernando and Fernandinho snuffing out the petite playmaker.

Gervinho – 7

The Ivorian was Roma’s main attacking threat, particularly in the first-half with the former Arsenal winger causing both Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta all sorts of problems with his speed and trickery. Unfortunately the final ball and finish again let Gervinho down.

Francesco Totti – 6

Totti will be disappointed his Champions League season ended having not made much of an impact on the match itself, Roma’s tactics were never really set up to bring Totti into play and having the quicker Florenzi through the middle may have been the smarter option given City’s lack of pace through the center.

Adem Ljajic – 4

Ljajic’s performance was epitomised by the Serbian’s tears once he was substituted in the second-half. The one-time Manchester United target was barely visible throughout, having very few attempts at beating a defender.

Subs:

Juan Iturbe – 4 (On 67min)

The Argentine struggled to have an impact once he was brought on although did cause City some minor panic with his speed.

Mattia Destro – 4 (On 70min)

The Italian, like Totti, found service limited and struggled to make any sort of impact.

Alessandro Florenzi – N/A (On 80min)

Manchester City

Joe Hart – 7

Joe Hart was excellent in keeping Roma at bay making a number of important saves, most notably from Gervinho in the first-half and Manolas late on.

Pablo Zabaleta – 7

Zabaleta was solid defensively despite being given the run-around by Gervinho early on. Secured City’s victory with a cool finish just before injury time.

Martin Demichelis – 7

The Argentine organised the City defence in the absence of captain Vincent Kompany.

Eliaquim Mangala – 6

The French defender had a less calamitous evening that we have come to expect from Mangala and defended well when asked.

Gael Clichy – 6

The French full-back had a quiet evening with some neat touches, was pinned back by Gervinho early on but recovered.

Fernandinho – 8

Was fantastic in the middle of midfield with his energy causing Roma problems all evening. Manchester City looked much more solid through the middle with the pairing of Fernandinho and Fernando.

Fernando – 8

Likely to go unheralded but Fernando’s performance was quietly excellent. The former Porto man kept position well and despite Roma having a lot of chances early on, Fernando was key in keeping City in the game.

James Milner – 6

Made a clever run to take a defender away for Nasri’s goal but added little else to proceedings.

Jesus Navas – 6

Jesus Navas had little impact on the game with City setup to be solid defensively first rather than to try and blow their opposition away with attacking football. Delivered a number of testing crosses to no avail.

Samir Nasri – 8

Entrusted with the responsibility of being City’s main creative spark, Nasri delivered when his team needed it most. The Frenchman cut inside well and fired an inch-perfect strike past Morgan de Sanctis.

Edin Dzeko – 6

Rather like Totti for Roma, the match passed Dzeko by with the Bosnian having little to do in the final third.

Subs:

David Silva – 4 (On 67min)

The Spaniard made his long awaited first-team return shortly after Nasri opened the scoring. With City in a qualifying position the onus wasn’t on the visitors to attack and thus Silva had little to do.

Steven Jovetic – 4 (On 79min)

Was brought on for the last ten minutes and held the ball up well.

Aleksandar Kolarov – N/A (On 89min)