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Shakhtar stuns Manchester City, condemns Napoli to Europa League

GENYA SAVILOV / AFP / Getty

Entering the final matchday of the Champions League group stage, Shakhtar Donetsk needed at least a draw to join Manchester City in the knockout phase and eliminate SSC Napoli.

Rather than settle for a point, Shakhtar decided to take three.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian club became the first side to beat City this season, defeating the Citizens 2-1 at OSK Metalist Stadion to progress to the knockout phase at the expense of Napoli. The Italian side had required the English club to win for any chance of moving on, and simultaneously lost 2-1 away to Feyenoord Rotterdam.

A first half in which Shakhtar was sizzling saw Bernard open the scoring with a curling shot and Ismaily tap the ball into an empty net. Pep Guardiola decided against making a substitution at the interval - likely because of the Manchester derby - and the second half saw the Ukrainian club preserve its lead despite the conversion of a stoppage-time penalty kick by Sergio Aguero.

Shakhtar, playing in Kharkiv due to the political situation in Ukraine, will partake in the Champions League last 16 for the fourth time. In 2014-15, the club was eliminated in the knockout phase, losing 7-0 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.

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