The Blues now stand top of the group and need only a draw in next month’s trip to Bayern Munich to ensure qualification to the next stage.
With Bayern winning away at CSKA Moscow earlier in the day, Patrick Vieira’s men knew that a victory against Plzen was imperative and in all honesty, it was rarely in doubt.
The game presented another start for 16-year-old Angelino, whilst Cole returned to the starting line-up after injury. Ash Smith-Brown however was dropped to the bench.
City knew what they had to do and as their first-team counterparts did against Tottenham on Sunday, the Blues came flying out of the traps, spurning three good chances in the opening five minutes.
Cole blazed over after a neat one-two between Kean Bryan and Seko Fofana fired a low shot wide. Pozo then had two efforts well-saved by Josef Jurasi.
The home side finally broke the deadlock on 21 minutes after some intricate build-up play. Bryan delivered a low cross to the back post, where Cole was waiting to smash the ball into the roof of the net, marking his comeback with a goal.
Plzen came to life briefly after the opener and almost found an immediate equaliser. Billy O’Brien managed to block a low effort before a dangerous corner was header over the bar. It was a warning for City and they responded.
Just minutes later, the Blues doubled their lead. Once again, it was Pozo at the heart of the action, working well down the right with Sinan Bytyqi. The latter then found Cole in space in the centre of the box and the striker drilled a shot into the bottom corner.
With a two-goal cushion, City were comfortable and were content from then on to play keep-ball. After the break, the game’s tempo slowed somewhat which only served to benefit Plzen. The visitors almost halved the deficit on 56 minutes but O’Brien was equal to Ondrej Ruml’s fierce effort.
Chances in the second half were few and far between. Bytyqi saw a couple of efforts fly wide before the home side finally put the game to bed with nine minutes of normal time remaining.
Bytyqi charged down the right once again before firing in a low cross to Pozo. The Spaniard’s contact with the ball proved enough as it trickled into the far corner to seal the win and set up a mouth-watering clash in Germany next month.
