MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Manchester City survived a sloppy start to secure top spot in Champions League Group F by coming from behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 thanks to Leroy Sane's double on Wednesday (Dec 12).
Andrej Kramaric's penalty put the Germans deservedly in front on 16 minutes as another much-changed City side struggled to get up to speed.
However, Pep Guardiola's men found their feet as the first half wore on and were level just before the break courtesy of a brilliant Sane free-kick.
Guardiola was frustrated by his side's wastefulness in front of goal in the second period, but Sane did at least secure victory by converting Raheem Sterling's pass on the hour mark.
City made life difficult for themselves with a flat performance in losing at home to Lyon in their opening group game and were similarly caught cold having already secured their place in the last 16.
Kramaric had fired a warning shot inches over before Ederson in the City goal showed he wasn't to be outdone by Brazilian international team-mate Alisson Becker's heroics to secure Liverpool's place in the knockout stages against Napoli on Tuesday by producing an incredible finger-tip stop to turn another curling effort from the Croatian behind.
However, Kramaric's luck was in third time round from the penalty spot after Aymeric Laporte was punished for hauling down Benjamin Hubner.
All of City's best efforts before the break came from set-pieces as Gabriel Jesus headed Sane's corner off the post before Oliver Baumann got down well to deny John Stones.
Nicolas Otamendi sent another wicked dead ball delivery from Ilkay Gundogan off the crossbar, but the hosts were finally level in spectacular fashion when Sane curled home a free-kick into the top corner from 30 yards out.
Hoffenheim needed to win just to have a chance of qualifying for the Europa League knockout stages in third, but in their desperation to chase a winner left themselves hopelessly exposed to the pace of Sane and Sterling after the break.
Sane was guilty of overplaying as City incredibly spurned a three-against-one when Sterling fed the German, who tried to tee up the surprised Bernardo Silva rather than going for goal himself and Baumann saved the Portuguese's shot.
Sterling has been in the news for bravely speaking out about the alleged racist abuse he suffered in defeat at Chelsea on Saturday and news coverage he has received in the past.
However, the England international showed little sign of letting it disrupt his fine form on the pitch as he teed up Sane to round Baumann and slot home the winner.
Pep Guardiola handed Phil Foden his first Champions League start of the season and the 18-year-old was only denied a spectacular first goal in the competition by a fine save by Baumann to turn his dipping volley over.
However, it mattered little as the competition favourites march into Monday's last 16 draw where they can face Atletico Madrid, Schalke, Ajax or Roma.
Publicly, Klopp would never assert that is team are "10 games from greatness". The Reds boss has always been keen to play down the increasing weight of expectation, blocking out the white noise of
Reds must rediscover passion: Klopp, Football News & Top
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Black Ops 2 Zombies: Pack A Punch 13 Times! - YouTube
LONDON • Maurizio Sarri has admitted he would welcome a return to Italy after a "heavy year" at Chelsea, as Juventus edge closer to luring him back to the Serie A.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Lure of Italy strong, says Chelsea's homesick Sarri
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Jesus shines as City regain top spot, Eriksen fires Spurs. Jesus hadn't scored a Premier League goal since August, but the Brazil forward ended that drought to put Everton to the sword at the
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MADRID: Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng is on the verge of joining Barcelona in a shock loan move from Italian side Sassuolo, according to media reports in Spain on Monday. Catalan daily Sport reported that the leaders of La Liga had agreed a deal to take Boateng on loan until the end of the
Boateng set for shock Barcelona move - reports - France - RFI
en.rfi.fr/wire/20190121-boateng-set-shock-barcelona-move-reports
Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng is on the verge of joining Barcelona in a shock loan move from Italian side Sassuolo, according to media reports in Spain on Monday. Catalan daily Sport
Kevin-Prince Boateng set for shock loan move to Barcelona
LONDON (AFP) - Mesut Ozil will return to the Arsenal squad for Saturday's (Dec 22) Premier League visit of Burnley, with manager Unai Emery saying he believes the midfielder has a future at the
Returning Ozil has Arsenal future says Emery | The Guardian
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Tigers riding high headed into 'must win' game
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Wolf Ecology and Behavior - Western Wildlife Outreach
westernwildlife.org/gray-wolf-outreach-project/biology-behavior-4/
Wolf pups are weaned at about 8 weeks of age once they have begun eating semi-solid food, regurgitated by the mother or others members of the pack. As pups begin eating more solids, they are moved to one or more "rendezvous sites," where they spend the remainder of the summer learning proper pack behavior and etiquette.
Wolf - Official Minecraft Wiki
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