Raheem Sterling’s quick-fire birthday double capped a memorable night in Europe for Manchester City, as the English side topped their Champions League group thanks to a 4-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Sterling's fellow Three Lions Fabian Delph and Joe Hart were also in action for City, but it was the former QPR and Liverpool man who stole the headlines as he scored two goals and made another.
Already safely through to the knockout stages, City took the lead against the German side with the 21-year-old the provider - his irresistible back-heel allowing David Silva to finish off an excellent team goal.
Their guests hit back with goals from Julian Korb and Raffael, before Sterling came close to equalising when he could not quite pounce on an underhit back-pass.
But with 79 minutes on the clock Sterling burst into life again, tapping home from six yards before smashing in another sumptuous goal two minutes later to put his side ahead.
Wilfried Bony got in on the act before the final whistle also as City cruised into the next round as group winners.
Elsewhere, it was a memorable night for England Under-19 international Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, even if his Manchester United side crashed out of the Champions League after a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg.
In the absence of England skipper Wayne Rooney, compatriot Chris Smalling led Manchester United for the crucial clash with former Under-21s winger Jesse Lingard also named in the starting line-up.
And United got off to the perfect start when Anthony Martial expertly finished off Juan Mata’s through ball, but just four minutes later they were pegged back when Wolfsburg skipper Naldo connected with a free-kick into the box.
It went from bad to worse for Smalling’s side with Vieirinha finishing off a wonderful Wolfsburg move to put the hosts in front, although Lingard almost answered straight away with a well-struck drive that was straight at Diego Benaglio.
With the clock ticking down to half time, Matteo Darmian became the latest Manchester United full-back to be hit by injury, and with England’s Phil Jones also out of action for the evening, Louis Van Gaal turned to Borthwick-Jackson for the biggest game of his career to date.
And there was still time for some late drama before the interval, with Lingard thinking he had pulled his side level before his cross-shot was ruled out, with Mata affecting the play in an offside position.
Lingard was a constant threat for United in the second half, and his effort on the hour was just deflected out of the reach of Mata.
But after Marouane Fellaini looked to have put the English side into the knock-out stages, up popped Naldo again from a corner to break Manchester United hearts, with Smalling and Lingard both having golden opportunities blocked in the closing stages.
