Six wins from six against continental opposition will give Patrick Vieira huge satisfaction at the progress of his young charges, who scored all four goals in the last 20 minutes of this hotly-contested encounter.
Bersant Celina, Angus Gunn to thank for the clean sheet, with the goalkeeper making a string of important stops.
There was also an impressive cameo for Manu Garcia, who grabbed two assists after only entering the fray on 79 minutes, and gave spectators more than a glimpse of his burgeoning talents.
Both teams came in to this encounter knowing their names were already in the metaphorical hat for the next round.
City secured Group E’s top spot and a home draw in February’s first knockout stage with a 6-0 thumping of Bayern Munich last time out, while Roma’s victory in Moscow earned the Italians the runners-up position.
Vieira made just three changes from the side that thrashed the Germans - Sam Tattum and Ashley Smith-Brown came into the back line while u18s midfielder Rodney Kongolo was handed a first start at this level in place of Olivier Ntcham.
The bench also had a distinctly youthful look and was comprised entirely of Jason Wilcox’s u18s, rewarded for strong showings at Academy level so far this season.
In a tight first half of few opportunities, Jack Byrne was first to threaten, but his effort from the edge of the box was high and wide of Pop’s goal.
At the other end, Gunn was forced to pull off an excellent stop from Sanabria’s header that looked destined for the back of the net, and just 60 seconds later City were left scrambling as Di Livio seized on a poor clearance but fired just wide under pressure from Kean Bryan.
The England youth international keeper was called into action again just before the half hour mark, clutching Sanabria’s free kick gratefully into his gloves, while Byrne made an excellent tackle to prevent Adamo pulling the trigger with the goal gaping.
Bryan nearly gave City the lead right on the stroke of half time, but his long range shot from a full 25 yards whistled past Pop’s post and the whistle blew with the game still goalless.
Vieira’s youngsters seized the initiative right from the restart, but Barker’s shot was tipped onto the post and Kongolo’s follow-up sailed high over the bar.
Instead, they had the excellent Gunn to thank once again, first for saving from a Verde free kick and then denying Sanabria once again from finding the back of the net with a low, acrobatic stop.
City grew into the game as the hour mark approached and Thierry Ambrose had the ball in the back of the net only to see the flag raised for offside, and the Frenchman was desperately unlucky not to break the deadlock shortly after – his outstretched foot mere inches away from connecting with Barker’s cross.
When the goal finally arrived on 71 minutes it was worth waiting for, as Celina curled a simply sensational shot right into the corner of the net to leave the desperately diving Pop with no chance.
Five minutes later it was two, Byrne doubling the advantage with a cool finish from the edge of the area after Barker saw his shot blocked by the legs of a Roma defender.
Roma were reeling in the face of the sudden, clinical onslaught and Ambrose took full advantage, adding his name to the scoresheet with a little under ten minutes to go, stroking the ball home after being picked out perfectly by young sub Manu Garcia.
City had Roma firmly by the jugular, and Pop saved well from Barker’s free kick in stoppage time before the England u19s starlet added some gloss to the scoreline with nearly the last kick of the game, smashing the ball high into the roof of the net from close range after more good work by Garcia in the box.
In the end it was a comfortable victory to sign off the group stages with a large dash of style, and City can now look forward with a good degree of confidence to the draw for the knockout stages.
