Raheem Sterling struck a late winner as Manchester City clinched top spot in Champions League Group F after a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium.
England international Sterling finished expertly in the 88th minute as City retained their 100 per cent record in the competition, though just a draw would have been enough to guarantee first place in their section, with Shakhtar Donetsk going down 3-0 to Napoli.
Pep Guardiola made seven alterations from the side that defeated Leicester City 2-0 at the weekend, but a front three formed of Bernardo Silva, Sterling and Sergio Aguero, back in the line-up and wearing the captain’s armband after being taken to hospital having felt faint at half-time in Argentina’s defeat to Nigeria last week, struggled in front of goal for much of the match.
Aguero and Silva failed to convert excellent first-half chances, while some nervy moments involving centre-backs Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala could provide the manager with cause for concern.
City upped their efforts in the second period and sent on Gabriel Jesus for Kevin De Bruyne, who picked up a booking that rules him out of their next match against Shakhtar, as well as handing senior debuts to 17-year-old Phil Foden and his fellow teenager Brahim Diaz.
They finally got their reward when Sterling, who now has four goals in four Champions League starts this term, finished a give-and-go with Ilkay Gundogan by clipping over the onrushing Brad Jones, as City extended a club record streak to 25 unbeaten matches in succession, while lowly Feynoord were consigned to finishing bottom in the group.
After a tepid opening 20 minutes referee Ivan Kruzliak turned down a weak penalty claim from Aguero, before a well-executed sliding tackle on Jean-Paul Boetius saw Ederson escape from a heavy first touch outside his box unscathed.
A lovely run down the left wing from De Bruyne ended with an exquisitely shaped delivery for Aguero, who was unable to turn his near-post header on target in the 32nd minute.
Sam Larsson gave City a scare when he turned Kyle Walker inside out and curled a lovely effort narrowly wide of the bottom-right corner, but Silva passed up the best chance of the half when he side-footed a tame shot from the right side of the box straight at Jones.
The hosts looked sharper after the restart but De Bruyne was booked for clumsy challenge on Steven Berghuis and, after Larsson drilled the resultant free-kick narrowly over, he made way for Jesus.
Yaya Toure, starting a match for the first time in almost a month, curled a set-piece just wide in the 67th minute, though a touch from Jones helped it on its way behind and went unnoticed by the officials.
Feyenoord grew in confidence as the scoresheet remained blank and Berghuis would have been the first name on it had Ederson not tipped over from the former Watford man.
After Foden entered the fray, Aguero had a chance to steal all three points for City when he brought down Silva’s pass in the box. However, he could not wrap his foot around the ball enough to steer his shot on target.
It was Sterling who finally broke the deadlock, spinning in behind and adding a delightful chipped finish to Gundogan’s throughball as City continued their flawless Champions League campaign.
In other Champions League results:
Liverpool missed out on the chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League as they let slip a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Sevilla.
Tottenham came from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 and make certain of their status as Champions League Group H winners.
Napoli breathed life into their Champions League campaign as a trio of second-half goals sealed a 3-0 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record for Champions League goals in a calendar year as Real Madrid trounced APOEL 6-0 in Nicosia.
Timo Werner struck twice as Monaco self-destructed in the Champions League on Tuesday, going down 4-1 at home to RB Leipzig to be dumped out of Europe early.
A late goal from Jasmin Mesanovic cancelled out Ze Luis’ 82nd-minute effort to secure Maribor a 1-1 draw at Spartak Moscow, leaving the Russians with it all to do in their final Champions League Group E match against Liverpool at Anfield.
Besiktas qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history thanks to an entertaining 1-1 draw at home to Porto on Tuesday.
