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. Adidas NMD Pharrell Williams Human Race Yellow . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Adidas NMD R1 Cheap . Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. 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