Champions League play-off: Steaua Bucharest 0 Manchester City 5

Josep Guardiola’s side placed one foot into the group stage with a play-off first-leg win boosted by a Sergio Agüero hat-trick.

Sergio Agüero helped himself to a hat-trick as Manchester City made light work of Steaua Bucureşti in the clubs’ UEFA Champions League play-off first leg, uefa.com reports.

The Romanian champions found themselves on the receiving end at the ‘National Arena’ as Agüero made amends for two early penalty misses by scoring a treble. The Argentinean’s exploits capped a City performance notable also for outstanding contributions from David Silva and Nolito, the Spanish duo who scored either side of Agüero’s 41st-minute first, as well as Raheem Sterling.

Despite Nicolae Stanciu’s initial near-miss, Laurenţiu Reghecampf’s willing team were outclassed on the night, with goalkeeper Florin Niță and the woodwork sparing them further punishment. Jugurtha Hamroun was unable to convert the hosts’ best chance and it already looks beyond doubt which of these sides will be competing in the group stage come September. Not a bad way for Josep Guardiola to mark his European debut as City boss.

It was obvious from reading the line-ups that City had the attacking class, whereas Steaua – despite fielding four offensive players – had just one comparable top-quality forward in Stanciu, who was unable to impose himself. Steaua fought hard yet the gap proved too big to bridge. If City did not exactly take the breath away, they impressed throughout, the visitors’ spectacular attacks punctuating their full control of the contest. Guardiola’s men gave the impression they could score at will. That they ended up by being roundly applauded spoke volumes.

The return match is to be played on August 24.

Scorers: David Silva (13^th min.), Sergio Aguero (41st, 78th, 89^th min.), Nolito (49^th min.).

Sergio Aguero missed two penalty kicks in the 8^th minute and in the 20^th minute.

Attendance, National Arena Bucharest: 45,320

Teams:

Steaua Bucharest: 1. Florin Niță — 44. Gabriel Enache, 4. Gabriel Tamaș, 13. Alin Toșca, 15. Marko Momcilovic — 20. Vlad Achim (55. Alexandru Bourceanu, 46^th min.), 11. Muniru Sulley (23. Ovidiu Popescu, 67^th min.) — 77. Adrian Popa, 10. Nicolae Stanciu (captain), 5. Jugurtha Hamroun — 14. Bojan Golubovic (9. Alexandru Tudorie, 46^th min.). Coach: Laurențiu Reghecampf.

Manchester City: 13. Willy Caballero — 5. Pablo Zabaleta (captain; 3. Bacary Sagna, 70^th min.), 24. John Stones, 30. Nicolas Otamendi, 11. Aleksandar Kolarov (22. Gael Clichy, 75^th min.) — 25. Fernandinho, 21. David Silva — 9. Nolito, 17. Kevin De Bruyne (6. Fernando, 79^th min.), 7. Raheem Sterling — 10. Sergio Aguero. Coach: Josep Guardiola.

 Statements after the match:

 Josep Guardiola: We are very pleased with our game and with the result. We are very close to Champions League, so we are happy. A coach is always happy when his team wins, I am happy for the way these footballers played. Steaua remains a good team, but today we played very well. I know Steaua can be a very dangerous opponent, and Steaua’s number 10 (Nicolae Stanciu – our note) is an extraordinary player. We faced a good team, but we played very good.

I wasn’t expecting such a good play, we are together only for about a month. We’ve only played several matches. We’ve played very good. The quality of our players is fantastic and this made the difference.

Laurențiu Reghecampf: “This is a match we should learn from. Unfortunately we were scored too many goals, we made too many individual mistakes. There are players who, for now, cannot play at this level, but I don’t want to lay blame on anyone. Tonight we lost as a team. I want to enjoy the fact that we will play in Europa League and I hope to have a long journey.  If we want to reach the Champions League, then we need to cope with such games. Currently, we cannot do it. It’s a big difference. They’ve bought players worth EUR 180 million, we’ve brought here several players. Let’s be serious. We tried hard, but this is the difference between the teams. (…) We are all to blame for the result.”