Three of their best attacking players scored and Manchester City took one giant step towards finally getting past the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv.
Manuel Pellegrini was criticised heavily on his decision to play "kids" in the FA Cup fifth round match against Chelsea last weekend, but the manager insisted his decision was justified by Manchester City's impressive performance in Ukraine.
"I think it's important to take the right decision and think about a lot of things, about why you take this decision," Pellegrini was quoted as saying by The Guardian. "But in this case, having just 13 players, it was a key decision to rest the team that day. Unfortunately, we could not continue in the FA Cup."
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring, before David Silva made it 2-0 five minutes before halftime. Manchester City allowed Dynamo Kyiv back in the first leg tie as Vitaliy Byalskiy netted on 58 minutes, but Yaya Toure ensured the English Premier League side would have a comfortable outing in the second leg by firing home a delightful effort in the 89th minute.
"I'm very happy because it is a very good result," Pellegrini was quoted as saying by The Guardian. "It is not finished but playing away and having a two-goal lead is very good. The team played well and had lots of chances. "
Kyiv manager Serhiy Rebrov, the former Tottenham striker, admitted his team "deserved" to go down to City, after putting on a disappointing performance.
"Unfortunately, we deserved this defeat because of our own mistakes," Rebrov told UEFA's official website. "We let City show their best qualities and we failed to show ours. After conceding two goals in the first half, we played with more courage and took the initiative. We scored and had a few more chances but conceded again in the closing minutes.
"It was obvious our players were too nervous, and this lifted only in the second half. I'm glad we changed the course of the game but I admit City were deserved winners. We badly lack experience at this level."
