Manchester City came back from 2-0 down to pull off a remarkable 3-2 victory at Bayern Munich, but it was not quite enough to see the Blues leapfrog their hosts into top spot in Champions League Group D. Both sides had already qualified for the knockout stage before this match, which was their concluding Group D fixture, and for second-placed City to overhaul defending champions Bayern and secure first position, it required them to win here with a better scoreline than 3-1 - that by which the German outfit beat them at the Etihad Stadium. It appeared an unlikely prospect before and a virtual impossibility soon after kick-off as Bayern ripped through a helpless-looking City defence and raced into a 2-0 lead, with Thomas Muller striking in the fifth minute and Mario Gotze in the 12th. Three minutes later the visitors had to substitute Micah Richards for Pablo Zabaleta, but their fortunes improved considerably from there as the game went on. Having steadied the ship, City hit back through David Silva's close-range finish in the 28th minute and they then scored two second-half goals in quick succession to complete an incredible turnaround, with Aleksandar Kolarov converting a 59th-minute penalty before James Milner's cool finish three minutes later. And while it was ultimately not sufficient for the Blues to take top spot, they have certainly made a statement about their credentials ahead of the next phase.
Phil Jones secured a 1-0 win for Manchester United over Shakhtar Donetsk to finish top of Champions League Group A. After 280 minutes without a goal, United finally found the net when Jones delivered a powerful finish to Robin van Persie's corner. It was enough to see off a dangerous Shakhtar Donetsk outfit, who had more shots than their hosts, on and off target, but failed to condemn Moyes to a third straight home defeat. A scrappy, stuttering and, at times, unconvincing performance will not be enough to silence United's critics - in his half-time analysis on ITV former skipper Roy Keane declared Ashley Young to be not good enough to play for his former club. However, in what has become a miserable debut campaign on the domestic front, Moyes at least has a European tie to look forward to next spring, with many of the tournament heavyweights being avoided when the last 16 draw is made next Monday courtesy of them finishing top of Group A, unbeaten.
