Hamilton: Guardiola’s best-kept secret
Belgrade, December 14
Six years ago, Micah Hamilton was operating as a ball boy at Manchester City when he was pictured getting instructions off Pep Guardiola to help speed up play.
On Tuesday, he was scoring in the Champions League on his senior debut for the club.
Hamilton, an attacking midfielder who turned 20 last month, demonstrated his potential by jinking inside then outside a defender before firing a rising shot into the roof of the net to give City a 1-0 lead at Red Star Belgrade in the 19th minute.
He also won a penalty in City’s 3-2 win in the Serbian capital.
“What a goal and what a game,” Guardiola said. “I am so happy for him. He is training often with us and we saw his skills one against one. He scored a fantastic goal and made a penalty.”
PSG through
Geneva: Paris Saint-Germain and Kylian Mbappe were left holding a ticket to the knockout round after a tense finish to the tightest group saw Newcastle let their chance slip.
Porto also earned their place in the Round of 16 draw on Monday with a 5-3 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk, who needed to win to advance.
PSG’s 1-1 draw at Group F winners Borussia Dortmund — earned by 17-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery’s 56th-minute leveller — was enough to secure second place because Newcastle lost 2-1 at home to AC Milan.
“We are still alive,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique, whose unseeded team can now be drawn to face Manchester City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. “No team will hope to play us in the next round.”
Newcastle were in the box seat kicking off the second half with a one-goal lead but ended in last place without even the consolation prize of entering the second-tier Europa League as a third-place finisher.
Newcastle joined Manchester United in losing at home to finish bottom of a group and give England their weakest Round of 16 challenge for 11 years: just defending champions Man City and Arsenal are in the draw. — AP
