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KIEV. – Manchester City may be toiling domestically at the moment but they produced a superb European away performance to beat Dynamo Kiev 3-1 in Ukraine in their Champions League soccer last 16, first leg on Wednesday night.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side did enough to win the game in the first half with Sergio Aguero and David Silva both scoring to underline their importance to City.

Dynamo pulled a goal back in the second half through midfielder Vitaliy Buyalskiy, but Yaya Toure’s late beauty ensured that City are very much on course to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

“The performance was good, with a lot of high pressing, 3-1 is a good result and we are happy with it,” City captain Vincent Kompany told BT Sport.

“We are going into the second leg with a fairly good chance to go through, which has not been the case before. We looked like a team that was hungry for success tonight.”

City were slick in their approach play in the opening 45 minutes, slicing through their opponents almost at will and taking a 2-0 lead with goals from Aguero and Silva.

Kiev pulled a goal back when Buyalskiy’s deflected effort beat Joe Hart, but a 90th-minute curler from Toure restored their two-goal advantage.

Apart from a brief wobble when Kiev reduced the arrears, it was a reassuring display for City manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose side face Liverpool in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

“Maybe when it was 2-1 we had moments of doubt, but then we got the third goal,” Pellegrini said.

“Is the tie settled? No, it is important in football to never think it is finished. But to have that third goal gives us more confidence for the second leg.”

They have been eliminated by Barcelona at this stage in each of the last two seasons but this was a far kinder draw for City against opponents who were playing their first competitive match since December due to the Ukrainian winter break. – AFP