Manchester City were clear favorites against Huddersfield Town in the third round of the League Cup—and they lived up to expectations with a 2-0 win. However, Guardiola’s B team did not put in a spectacular performance.
ManCity coach Pep Guardiola rotated his squad heavily after the 1-1 draw with Arsenal and fielded a B team, with Bernardo Silva and regular goalkeeper Donnarumma on the bench and star striker Haaland not even in the squad.
It was quickly clear who would dominate the game against third-division Huddersfield. And yet the Skyblues found it difficult to create any danger in front of goal in the early stages: Guardiola’s B team laid siege to the hosts’ penalty area but couldn’t find a way through the blue and white defensive wall.
Foden opens the scoring single-handedly
Until Foden’s flash of inspiration in the 18th minute: the Englishman started the move himself, asked Mukasa for the ball back and then shot low from 19 meters. Nicholls stretched but couldn’t prevent the ball from hitting the bottom right corner to make it 1-0. That was also the score at halftime, as Foden once again blasted a promising free kick into the stands (29th minute) and Redmond lacked precision under pressure at the other end (33rd minute).
Not much changed in the second half: City remained dominant but struggled to break through for a long time. Savinho (51′) and O’Reilly (54′) missed the best chances, but the former then scored the next goal just under 20 minutes before the end to seal the victory: the Brazilian created some space on the left of the box and fired the ball into the bottom corner. Nicholls got a hand to it but couldn’t prevent the score becoming 0-2.
With City not letting anything slip and showing little inclination to make it 3-0, and Ashia missing Huddersfield’s best chance by inches with a shot that hit the post, that was to be the final score. The Skyblues thus advance to the round of 16 in commanding but unspectacular fashion.
Huddersfield Town will play away at Exeter City in League One on Saturday (4 p.m.). At the same time, ManCity will host Burnley FC in the Premier League.