Goalkeeper Joe Hart hailed the resolve and character of Manchester City as they reached the Champions League knockout stage with a brilliant 2-0 win at Roma.

Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta struck in the second half to claim the victory which was enough to see City through to the last 16.

French playmaker Nasri chose the perfect moment to score his first goal of the season, smashing in a shot via the woodwork on the hour at the Stadio Olimpico.

Until then a City side without three of their key players had been second best but Hart was outstanding and they grew in confidence to claim a famous victory when Nasri set up Zabaleta after 86 minutes.

It completed a remarkable comeback in Group E, with progress having looked unlikely just a couple of weeks ago.

"We are a string unit and we believed in it," Hart told Sky Sports 5. "We had a bit of a slow start but you don't win the Premier League easily. We've got resolve, we've got character and we've got great players. Add that all together and you have a chance.

"It was a great performance and we're moving in the right direction. We've won five or six games on the spin now and we've really stepped it up."

Nasri admitted his goal was of huge importance both for the team and on a personal level.

"It was important for me to score as after my surgery it took a little bit of time to come back to that level and now I am," he said.

"We are a team and we did it today."

Nasri also revealed that manager Manuel Pellegrini had told his side not to panic against Roma.

"The manager told us to take our time. We won our game against Bayern Munich in the last minute as well and we knew that we had to be patient," Nasri added.

"For me my strike was important but at 1-0 the save that Joe made on the corner was amazing."

Man City boss Pellegrini refused to focus on the players that were missing for the victory and instead wanted to focus on the quality of the men that were on the pitch.

He said: "We recovered our normal performance and are playing well for the ball and are similar to teams who won the title last year.

"We are a solid team and are recovering the ball in the correct way in the correct moments.

"I don't want to complain about the players that aren't in the team. You must decide to play without (Vincent) Kompany, without Yaya Toure, without (David) Silva without (Sergio) Aguero. It's difficult for a team. This team deserves a little more credit than the press always gives us."

However, Pellegrini hopes to have captain Kompany back for the return to Premier League action this weekend - which is now his total focus after securing qualification.

"I hope that Vincent will be fit for Saturday. It would have been a risk for him to play today as he has a problem with his hamstring and also his calf," the Chilean added.

"We are playing in two different competitions. We have finished with the Champions League, we have qualified. We will start thinking about this in February.

"If we didn't qualify today I would be telling you the same words - now we must think about the Premier League to try to discount the points to Chelsea at the top of the table."