The success proved to be a night to remember for Academy graduate Micah Hamilton who broke the deadlock at the Rajko Mitic Stadium on what was his first senior appearance for the Club.
Oscar Bobb then spectacularly scored his maiden goal for Pep Guardiola‘s side with a superb solo effort, but Hwang In-beom pulled one back for the hosts on 76 minutes.
However, the scoring wouldn’t be finished there as Kalvin Phillips bagged his first in sky blue from the penalty spot late on before Aleksandar Katai headed past Stefan Ortega in second-half stoppage time.
Despite Barak Bakhar’s side’s late push for an equaliser the reigning European champions held on to maintain our 100% record in the competition so far this term.
Although progression to the Champions League or Europa League knockout stages were out of reach for the hosts, even with a victory, their passionate fans were in fine voice in Serbia’s iconic arena.
However, Hamilton silenced the raucous home support when he danced into the box opposition box and fired into the roof of the net on 19 minutes - becoming City’s youngest Champions League debutant goalscorer at 20 years and 30 days.
The versatile forward’s wonderful strike represented the first half’s only goal as Pep Guardiola‘s side held our slender, but deserved, lead into the interval.
Following half-time, we produced a professional performance to keep Red Star at bay and doubled advantage through Bobb who weaved past numerous defenders to arrive into the box and slot into the bottom corner.
With less than 15 minutes remaining, though, Red Star halved the deficit when In-beom broke into the box and fired past Stefan Ortega.
It continued to be a night of firsts soon after when Hamilton was tripped inside the box before Phillips coolly dispatched from 12-yards to bag his maiden goal for the Club.
Undeterred by our two-goal advantage, the hosts pushed forward again and found the net when Katai found space inside the box and powered a header past Ortega on the cusp of full-time.
Time ran out for Red Star to find an equaliser and the victory represented our sixth successive Group G victory in this year’s Champions League -meaning City have won all of our group assignments in the competition for the first time.
View the best images from the success via our gallery below!
