Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho has claimed that his side have taken a "huge step" towards getting out of the Champions League group stage with their 2-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk last night.
Goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling helped the Citizens to move three points clear at the top of Group F and maintain their perfect start in the competition, following on from their 4-0 win at Feyenoord earlier this month.
Fernandinho, who ended an eight-year stint at Shakhtar to move to City in 2013, says that his side can now take some optimism as they prepare to face their third opponent in the group, Serie A side Napoli, next month.
"I know most of the [Shakhtar] players," he told reporters. "I played with them when I was over there. I knew they could create some problems for us, especially keeping the ball.
"But we were patient to defend our side and when we had the ball we tried to create chances to score. We had a few chances and in the end we got two goals and the three points.
"I think we made a huge step towards qualification for the next stage. This is good. If you want to be top of the group you have to win most of the points possible.
"Two in a row in the group stage is nice but now we have to think about Napoli because it is going to be a tough game for us."
City have qualified for the last-16 stage of the Champions League in each of the last four seasons.
Neil Wilkes
