Manchester City 3-1 Southampton: City into the quarterfinal

Manager Pep Guardiola’s young and heavily rotated Manchester City team got the job done in midweek as City won 3-1 at home to advance to the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup.

Coming off a 3-0 win against Aston Villa in the Premier League, changes were expected heading into Manchester City’s Tuesday Carabao Cup round of 16 tie against Southampton.

Manager Pep Guardiola delivered on these expectations, making nine changes from the side that won at the weekend as City claimed a solid 3-1 victory to advance in the cup. 18-year old central midfielder Tommy Doyle made his senior debut for the club, while fellow academy graduates Eric García and Phil Foden also started the match.

After Guardiola expressed his frustration with his team’s slow first-half performance following the Villa game, his team came blazing out of the blocks. An opening stretch of unchallenged dominance culminated in Nicolás Otamendi’s headed goal off a corner just before the 20 minute mark.

The Blues continued to pile on the pressure from that point, with Sergio Agüero, who captained the side, scoring on each end of the half-time break.

Southampton showed real fight after falling 9-0 last Friday to Leicester in the Premier League, with Jack Stephens managing to even find the back of the net off a corner in the 75th minute.

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Overall, however, it was a dominant performance from a young and rotated side. The home team held 77% of the ball and had 19 shots with nine on target, compared to five and two for Southampton. The lone black mark on an otherwise solid performance was an apparent injury to left-back Angeliño, further compounding the club’s defensive woes. Benjamin Mendy is now the club’s only fit full-time left-back, and has a worrying injury history, although João Cancelo can deputize well at the position as he did today.

Adrián Bernabé also got the chance to feature as part of a late substitution for Gabriel Jesus, who was given a rare opportunity on the left flank, while Bernardo Silva returned to the attacking midfield position from which he won City’s Player of the Season Award a year ago.

The Citizens will now keep their focus on the Saints, who will return to the Etihad for a Premier League clash this Saturday.