Man City beat Steaua thanks to Delph header

Liam Hanna 7 years ago 2.7k
Delph celebrates his goal with Nolito. ManCity

Manchester City beat Steaua Bucharest 1-0 on the night and 6-0 on aggregate thanks to a second half header from Fabian Delph. Read about Manchester City's win and all of the other Champions League qualifiers here.

It was a comfortable but uneventful night for the Citizens, who were solid but unspectacular on the night. 

The main talking points were mainly before the game. Pep Guardiola gave starts to Joe Hart and Yaya Toure who are rumoured with moves away from the Etihad. The Man City fans chanted 'City's number one' and 'Don't sell Joe Hart' on numerous occasions throughout the evening, as it was evident that the City faithful do not want the goalkeeper to leave.

The first half saw City dominate possession but didn't create any clear cut chances. Nolito had an acrobatic effort saved and Iheanacho also had a couple of half-chances, but there were no other opportunities of note.

The second half saw slightly more action as Fabian Delph had a shot well saved in the 54th minute. The midfielder didn't have to wait long for a goal however, as he scored just one minute later. Navas crossed from the right edge of the box, and Delph managed to head past Cojocaru in the Steaua goal.

In the 73rd minute, Joe Hart was called into action. He pushed Stanciu's free-kick over the bar then got his body behind a close-range effort from Tudorie.

There were no other chances after Hart's couple of saves, but one concern for City will be that striker Kalechi Iheanacho was strechered off in the 74th minute.

Guardiola's side held on for the win as Joe Hart applauded the City fans for what may be the last time.

Rostov thump Ajax

Rostov produced an impressive performance as they qualified for the Champions League group stage with ease.

The Russian side took the lead when Sardar Azmoun scored with a wonderful header.

Rostov then came out even stronger after the break and scored three goals within 15 minutes in the second half.

Goals from Erokhin (52 mins), Noboa (60 mins) and Poloz (66 mins) put the game to bed for Rostov.

The Russians went down to 10 men when Kudryash was sent off in the 84th minute. Ajax scored a late consolation thanks to a penalty from Klaassen, but it was Rostov who celebrated at the end, winning 4-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate, thus qualifying for the Champions League group stages for the first time in their history. 

Two hat-tricks see Borussia Monchengladbach thrash Young Boys

The Germans made light work of their Swiss opponents beating them 6-1 on the night and 9-2 on aggregate. Monchengladbach raced into a 3-0 lead at half-time thanks to goals from Thorgan Hazard (9 mins) and two from Raffael (33 and 40 mins).

Hazard added his second of the night when he scored in the 64th minute, but Raffael managed to beat the Belgian to his hat-trick when he netted in the 77th minutre. Young Boys got a consolation goal 11 minutes from time, but Hazard had the last laugh as he also completed his hat-trick with six minutes to go.

Copenhagen score late equaliser to beat APOEL Nicosia

After Copenhagen won the first leg 1-0, Nicosia appeared to have at least taken the game to extra-time thanks to a goal from Soteriou on 69 minutes. 

However, Federico Santander broke Nicosia hearts late on, when he scored in the 86th minute, meaning Copenhagen go through with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

DInamo Zagreb leave it late to beat Red Bull Salzburg

After drawing the first leg 1-1, Salzburg looked to have the game in the bag when they took a 1-0 lead in the first half thanks to Lazaro and managed to hold on until the 86th minute. However, four minutes from time and Junior Fernandes equalised for the Croatioan side. Dinamo Zagreb then won the game in the fifth minute of exra time when Soudani gave the away side a 2-1 victory on the night.

Mentioned in the news story

Young Boys
Kobenhavn
FK Rostov
Manchester City
Salzburg
B. Mönchengladbach
Dinamo Zagreb
UCL Qualifying