Manchester City’s quest to be a dominant European force lives on into the last 16 of the Champions League.

For the third time in four seasons, the Sheikh Mansour project appeared to be falling apart before the knockout stage could be reached until Samir Nasri stepped up with a 60th-minute rocket that left Morgan De Sanctis little chance.

Until then City's had been a disjointed display against the Serie A second-placed side who continued to cast City as a band of naive millionaire footballers led by a manager, Manuel Pellegrini, whose tactical nous at this level is questionable.

The manager could quite rightly point to last season’s campaign when he guided City to the last 16 for the first time. Yet the vulnerabilities that were exposed when being eliminated by Barcelona at that stage have still not been addressed despite this result and passage into the draw for the knockout round came courtesy of CSKA Moscow’s defeat to Bayern Munich.

Disparate parts

The main charge is that the front and back of this City team can be disparate parts, as if attack and defence have been grafted together awkwardly via a midfield who are fine going forward but shaky when asked to protect.

This contest was studded with the sight of one of Rudi Garcia's team running at the visitors as if they had merely turned up to watch. Gervinho, Maicon and Jose Holebas all made hay while the Stadio Olimpico lights shone. They knifed through Pellegrini's side with ease.

Maicon, the former City right-back, took one direct sprint at the heart of the City defence then unloaded a shot. Gervinho, unrecognisable for the struggler of his Arsenal days, raced along the right into yards of space in an act of potency that was a snapshot of how City have been undone this season in this competition.

The atmosphere was vibrant and febrile and featured burning red beacons and loud firecrackers that rendered the air before kick-off to leave an odour of gunpowder drifting across the stadium.

City had hoped that could start with a bang.

Instead it was Roma who began exposing the weaknesses of Pellegrini's team. A Gervinho skip behind the defence won a corner. Moments later, Holebas shredded the City rearguard to have clear sight of Joe Hart's goal. The shot beat the goalkeeper but Pablo Zabaleta could clear.

Francesco Totti had undone City in the earlier match at the Etihad Stadium when galloping into space to score the equaliser.

Here, the 38-year-old was again bewitching the men in blue, the dummy he gave to Martin Demichelis near halfway making a mug of the defender and allowing Roma to pour forward once more.

But when roving forward City are difficult to halt. Twice Roma were turned with the most dangerous of these moves. A Gael Clichy cross found Edin Dzeko but he struggled to direct his header on target.

Beforehand Dzeko declared he wanted to be the "hero" in the enforced absence of Sergio Aguero. The determination to fill the 19-goal vacuum left by City's main striker this season was admirable. Aguero had made all the difference ensuring City's team stayed in the competition and maintained their domestic title defence.

But what Pellegrini required on this occasion was for whole XI to turn in a committed performance.

Despite the absence of leading figures like Vincent Kompany, Toure and Aguero, his expensively assembled squad proved up to the task.

But Roma had their chances to equalise and Hart’s goal survived some nervous moments as the home side poured forward.

City academy

Without Aguero, City needed to prove they were no one-man band on an evening when the stakes could hardly have been higher for the club.

But the visiting supporters could acclaim a famous victory when Nasri set up Zabaleta who fired home the goal that sealed their progress. Guardian Service