City's Zabaleta champions Agüero after CSKA scalp

Pablo Zabaleta hailed the form of two-goal Sergio Agüero after the forward's first-half double helped Manchester City FC come from behind to beat PFC CSKA Moskva 2-1. The three points moved City above their hosts in UEFA Champions League Group D, a position which midfielder Fernandinho believes puts his side halfway towards qualifying for the knockout phase.

CSKA came into the game having picked up one point from a possible 15 in Russia's top flight, but Zoran Tošić is certain the Army Men will take a lot of positives from a vastly improved showing. The midfielder also has faith that his team can pull off a shock in Manchester in two weeks.

Zoran Tošić, CSKA midfielder
From the beginning we knew how we needed to play and we knew that we were playing one of the best teams in the world. You need to give your maximum and you need to show yourself in the best light. Some of our previous displays were poor, but today we played at the same level as Manchester City. Of course they are a much more experienced side and this is why they won.

We started well, but the key moment was when we conceded the second goal. If it was 1-1 going into half-time, then the game would have been much more interesting. We did well today and we had a lot of moments, but unfortunately we did not score from our chance in the last minute. We just need to keep going. We will try to do our best to the end, as there are still three games to go and nine points to play for. The key match will be in Manchester and I think we will be ready for it. The result there will decide what will happen in the next round.

Fernandinho, Manchester City midfielder
Today was very difficult for us and I am very happy as CSKA are a very good team. The conditions were difficult, but we tried to play good football and I thought we did this very, very well. I think we took a big step today and we now have two home games and if we win we can take another big step towards qualification. We made a mistake for the goal we conceded and we will need to analyse the game and the manager will tell us what we need to do. [Joe Hart's last-minute save] was an important moment as it was the last kick of the game and he made a fantastic save. He is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City defender
We knew before the game that it was going to be really tough and the conditions were really difficult. I think we played well and it was a good performance. The three points are very important for us to keep progressing. This match was worth 50% of the qualification for the next round and we won, so I am really happy. We know that Sergio [Agüero] is one of the main players in our team. He is in great form and it is very important for us that he is playing well for our team.