Oxford 1 Manchester City 3 : Player Ratings

Manchester City secured a win at Oxford United by 3 goals to 1 in the Carabao Cup for the second season in a row.

Despite the similarity of the scorelines, this performance by Manchester City seemed different from last year. It was scrappier and less controlled, but how much of that was down to the wild and windy conditions we will never know.

What was clear was that a number of the City passes went astray, leaving the team repeatedly exposed to the physical counter attacking threat of Oxford. At times this was not pretty and unusually it was City who became the counter attacking experts and they profited from their ability to move the ball quickly.

Oxford had more attempts on target than City during the game and it was simply that City were more lethal in front of goal. The City chances were clearer cut as they were placed easily for Sterling in particular to seize.

Let us turn now to look at the individual player performances and to try and select a Man City Square Man of the Match. We will start by looking at the defensive unit.