Unfortunately for Roma, Manchester City beat 10-man Bayern Munich 3-2 with a Sergio Aguero hat-trick after Mehdi Benatia was sent off.

Unfortunately for Roma, Manchester City beat 10-man Bayern Munich 3-2 with a Sergio Aguero hat-trick after Mehdi Benatia was sent off.

Earlier this evening the Giallorossi drew 1-1 at CSKA Moscow, so this result sets up the final showdown in Group E.

Bayern have already topped the group, but City are now on five points, level with Roma and CSKA Moscow. It could well all go down to head-to-head records and even goal difference, but above all the Roma-Manchester City showdown on December 10.

Bayern rotated the squad, but started fairly strong with Joe Hart rushing off his line to charge down Sebastian Rode’s effort.

Ex-Roma defender Benatia put a huge dent in his old club’s chances of qualification when he completely mistimed a sliding tackle on Sergio Aguero when clear on goal. The penalty and red card were inevitable, which Aguero converted.

However, 10-man Bayern equalised before half-time thanks to a Xabi Alonso free kick that crept round the badly-placed wall to leave Hart stranded. It was a particularly special goal on the midfielder’s birthday and Dante was decisive in moving out of the way.

Incredibly, moments later Bayern turned it around with Robert Lewandowski’s looping header, silencing the City crowd.

Manuel Neuer denied a Jesus Navas angled drive at the near post after the restart and flew to palm a Frank Lampard screamer out from under the bar, but Bayern otherwise remained comfortable.

With four minutes to go, Xabi Alonso surprisingly gave the ball away in midfield, sending Sergio Aguero forward with an inch-perfect snooker shot into the far bottom corner.

That equaliser gave City confidence and Jerome Boateng completely failed to clear, so Aguero pounced yet again for his hat-trick.

Manchester City 3-2 Bayern Munich

Scorers: Aguero pen 22, 86, 92 (M), Xabi Alonso 40 (B), Lewandowski 45 (B)

Manchester City: Hart; Sagna (Zabaleta 68), Kompany, Mangala, Clichy; Fernando, Milner (Jovetic 66); Jesus Navas, Lampard, Nasri; Aguero (Demichelis 94)

Bayern Munich: Neuer; Rafinha, Benatia, Boateng, Bernat; Hojbjerg, Xabi Alonso, Rode (Dante 25); Robben, Lewandowski (Shaqiri 84), Ribery (Schweinsteiger 80)

Ref: Kralovec (CZE)

Sent off: Benatia 20 (B)

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