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MANCHESTER, England -- Its taken three frustrating seasons but Manchester City has finally reached the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time -- and the English team achieved it in style on Tuesday. Alvaro Negredo scored a hat trick and strike partner Sergio Aguero grabbed the other two goals as City crushed CSKA Moscow 5-2 to guarantee a top-two finish in Group D. After splashing out hundreds of millions of pounds on big-name players over the past five years, City was desperate to transfer its recent domestic success to the European stage and make a dent in the Champions League. Roberto Mancini failed to get City out of its group in the past two seasons, though, and was fired. His successor, Manuel Pellegrini, has succeeded at the first time of asking. "The minimum target was to qualify for the next round but its not the only target," Pellegrini said. "Im sure the team we play (in the last 16) will not be very happy to play against us." Not with Negredo and Aguero in this kind of form. A debate is raging in England about the Premier Leagues top strike partnership. Most plump for Luis Suarez-Daniel Sturridge at Liverpool or Robin van Persie-Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, but the Negredo-Aguero combination is giving them a run for their money. In putting City 2-0 up after a third-minute penalty and a sumptuous turn and shot in the 20th, Aguero became Citys leading European scorer with 13 goals and has now scored in six straight games. Negredo made it 3-0 in the 30th minute after tapping in Agueros teasing cross, slotted home from Samir Nasris deft lay-off in the 51st for 4-1 and then rounded off a satisfying night for the hosts with a headed goal off the last touch of the game. "Aguero is in a great moment, not only because hes scoring but because the whole team is playing offensive football and thats important," said Pellegrini, whose side came into the game off a 7-0 thrashing of Norwich in the Premier League on Saturday. Such was Citys swashbuckling attacking play, admittedly up against a feeble CSKA defence, that it almost took the attention away from what was going on in the crowd. Almost. The behaviour of CSKA fans was under heavy scrutiny in the wake of the first meeting between the sides, a 2-1 win for City two weeks ago that was overshadowed by racist chanting by home supporters that earned the Russian club a partial stadium ban. A small contingent of CSKA fans travelled to Manchester for the return game and, flanked by a mass of stewards, were constantly barracked by City counterparts over what happened in Moscow. Things didnt boil over -- local police said there were no arrests made and no reports of racism -- although officers intervened at one stage and appeared to remove at least one fan, while a smoke bomb appeared to go off during the second half. "We must say thank you to the fans today, they showed the fans of CSKA how to support a team," said City captain Yaya Toure, one of the targets of the racist abuse in Moscow. As the teams emerged from the tunnel for kickoff, stewards also moved quickly to remove a banner put up by City fans that read "Free Pussy Riot" in reference to a Russian punk band, two members of which are serving prison sentences for an irreverent protest against the countrys president, Vladimir Putin. Back on the pitch, City took charge from the first whistle and Aguero was allowed to continue his free-scoring form after David Silva had his heels clipped. Aguero slotted the penalty high into the right-hand corner and was then at his brilliant best for his second, spinning marker Aleksei Berezutski with his first touch after receiving a pass from Nasri before giving himself space to curl low into the bottom corner. It got worse for CSKA, whose failure to press Citys midfield was the source of most of the problems. In the 30th, Aguero was given far too much time and space to thread a cross into the box between goalkeeper and defenders, allowing Negredo an easy tap-in at the far post. However, if there was a blot on the evening, it was the goals Citys defence, which has been vulnerable all season, conceded. Lax defending in first-half injury time saw Pontus Wernbloom feed Seydou Doumbia, who rounded Costel Pantilimon -- again preferred to Joe Hart in goal -- and tapped into an empty net. After Negredo scored his second goal, Doumbia became the third player to grab a brace when he sent Pantilimon the wrong way from the spot in the 71st after being bundled over by Gael Clichy. Negredo had the final say, though, heading in James Milners cross with the games last act. "Its amazing, its history for the club," Toure said. All that remains now is the prize of winning Group D, in which Bayern Munich currently has a three-point lead over City. The pair meet on the final matchday. Toronto Maple Leafs Jerseys .Y. - Joe Johnson hit six 3-pointers in his 27 points, Mason Plumlee added 18 points, and the Brooklyn Nets won their 11th straight at home, beating the Boston Celtics 114-98 Friday night. Custom Toronto Maple Leafs Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.officialmapleleafspro.com/Mike-palmateer-maple-leafs-jersey/ . -- Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was alert and recovering at a Denver hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms when the teams bus pulled into the airport Friday afternoon for the flight to Kansas City. Morgan Rielly Jersey . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution. Johnny Bower Jersey . Or maybe he already did. Clark hit his first homer, Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 Wednesday night.Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Montrezl Harrell had 22 points and 15 rebounds and No. 10 Louisville rallied from 18 down in the second half to beat No. 13 North Carolina 78-68 in overtime on Saturday. Louisville outscored the North Carolina 53-25 over the last 22 1/2 minutes of the game to snap a six-game Tar Heels winning streak that began with a one- point victory over the Cardinals in Chapel Hill on Jan. 10. Terry Rozier added 22 points and 10 rebounds, scoring eight in overtime to help Louisville (18-3, 6-2 ACC) pick up its third consecutive win since a loss to Duke two weeks ago. Chris Jones scored seven of his 17 points in overtime for the Cardinals. Marcus Paige had 15 points to lead North Carolina (17-5, 7-2) and J.P. Tokoto added 11 with 11 rebounds. Brice Johnson had two points and 10 rebounds before fouling out. The Tar Heels shot 43.3 percent from the field, down from a 50.8 percent mark during their winning streak. They are 0-3 all-time against the Cardinals in Louisville, also losing games in 1929 and 1999. Louisville trailed by 18 two minutes into the second half but was within eight after Harrell stretched back to catch a lob pass from Jones and threw down a muscular one-handed alley-oop dunk. The play stirred the home crown and forced North Carolina to call a timeout with 12:34 remaining in reegulation.dddddddddddd Later, Rozier and Jones knocked down consecutive 3s and Harrell was fouled hard but completed a three-point play to cap a 9-0 run that tied the score for Louisville with 8:20 remaining. The Cardinals never took the lead in the second half and the score remained tied at 60-60 for the final 3:13 of regulation. Louisville had a good chance to win it, but Jones dribbled the ball too long up top and the best the Cardinals could do was Harrells 3-point try at the buzzer, which hit off the back of the rim. Roziers layup to make it 62-60 in overtime gave the Cardinals their first lead since 10-7. Wayne Blackshear scored his first points to make it 69-64 in the midst of a 10-0 Louisville run that put the game away. North Carolina held Louisville under 26 percent shooting in the first half and pushed its lead to 14 late in the period with a 9-2 run capped by back-to-back jumpers from Kennedy Meeks. The Tar Heels outrebounded the Cardinals 27-16 in the half and held a 36-25 lead at the break. Game Notes Justin Jackson and Nate Britt scored 10 apiece for North Carolina. Britt fouled out ... The Tar Heels lead the all-time series against Louisville 10-4 ... North Carolina hosts No. 2 Virginia on Monday ... Louisville plays at Miami on Tuesday. ' ' '