Champions League: Jesus scores hat-trick as Man City hit Shakhtar for six

Manchester City 6 Shakhtar Donetsk 0

Manchester City put six unanswered goals past Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk last night, but events in France prevented Pep Guardiola’s men from immediately qualifying for the Champions League last-16.

A late goal from ten-man Hoffenheim secured the Germans a 2-2 draw with Lyon, leaving City needing a point from their final two games to qualify for the knockout stages.

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All the same, the Premier League champions seem safe to start planning for the last-16 phase, with the English side three points clear of Lyon and six ahead of Hoffenheim, and with a vastly superior goal difference over both clubs.

That goal difference is largely down to their performance at the Etihad Stadium last night, with Gabriel Jesus alone hitting the net three times.

David Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling also got on the scoresheet as City recorded their biggest win in the Champions League, surpassing their 5-0 away victory against Steaua Bucharest in 2016.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t qualified, but we are so close and will try to maintain this level,” said Guardiola.

“The fact it’s not done will make sure we will focus on the competition. It was another excellent performance, the team attacked very well. We have not qualified but made a good step to finishing first in the group phase.”

In the next group F fixtures, on 27 November, City travel to Lyon while Hoffenheim host Shakhtar Donetsk. The final group games, on 11 December, see City host Hoffenheim at the Etihad, and Shakhtar at home against Lyon.

Matchday four results

• Group A: Monaco 0 Club Brugge 4; Atletico Madrid 2 Borussia Dortmund 0
• Group B: Inter Milan 1 Barcelona 1; Tottenham Hotspur 2 PSV Eindhoven 1
• Group C: Red Star Belgrade 2 Liverpool 0; Napoli 1 Paris Saint-Germain 1
• Group D: FC Porto 4 Lokomotiv Moscow 1; FC Schalke 04 2 Galatasaray 0
• Group E: Benfica 1 Ajax 1; Bayern Munich 2 AEK Athens 0
• Group F: Lyon 2 1899 Hoffenheim 2; Manchester City 6 Shakhtar Donetsk 0
• Group G: CSKA Moscow 1 Roma 2; Viktoria Plzen 0 Real Madrid 5
• Group H: Valencia 3 Young Boys 1; Juventus 1 Manchester United 2