The third round of the Carabao Cup is done and dusted for Manchester City, and as expected, the team had no issues with Norwich City, winning 5-0. In fact, Enzo Maresca's side already knew who they would face in the fourth round, and that was part of the fun in the lead-up to the Norwich match because it meant a bitter rival had lost.
Man City was trending toward taking on Manchester United, who led Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday after trailing 2-0. Those two goals for Man U were even scored in the first 10 minutes, and then problems occurred. It all made for a fun watch unless one happens to follow the lesser Manchester side.
As for the lads in blue, they will next face Brighton & Hove Albion once the fourth round of the Carabao Cup begins, starting the week of October 26. Against Norwich, though, the following happened in a fairly easy victory.
Immediate takeaways from Manchester City's victory against Norwich City in the Carabao Cup
The opening 10 minutes was pretty ugly
To be fair, those players not in the starting XI for City read more like a top-third of the EPL squad alone (at least!). Eliot Anderson, Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guéhi, and Gianluigi Donnarumma, among others, were all substitutes with little chance of playing. Erling Haaland was completely out.
Norwich took advantage to some degree by controlling the ball and pressing forward with more vigor. While the match wasn't nearly as important as league play or the Champions League, the point was still to win, even if only 1-0. At the beginning, however, it was Norwich that appeared to be the team driven to succeed.
Man City got the victory, of course, and with a different XI, the team might start more quickly, but goodness...the first part was stressful to watch.
The debuts were excellent
Gero Rulli was in goal, and his debut came with a catch. He had been with City before in 2016, but only for a brief time, and he didn't appear in any meaningful matches. The 34-year-old was solid, though how trustworthy he would be in more important play is unknown. Let's hope we don't have to find out and Gianluigi Donnarumma stays healthy.
One alarming moment happened with City well ahead at 4-0, but the ball was loose and headed down the touchline toward the blues' goal. Rulli did his best Manuel Neuer impression and came all the way out to the touchline and kicked the ball into the stands. That kind of thing might not work as well in an EPL match.
Allan's start was a bit iffy, and he was overpowered a few times trying to control the ball near the Norwich goal, but he assisted on the first score of the match by hitting an excellent short cross to another player making his debut, Floyd Samba. Samba was the Man of the Match.
To give credit where it's due, the whole scenario was set up by a brilliant cross from Nico O'Reilly. Except for O'Reilly's scary speed, the first goal wouldn't have happened.
By the time Allan scored to give City a 3-0 lead on a beautiful turn and strike in the 48th minute, he had dismissed any thought that he was going to be diminished by more powerful players. His skill and quickness are going to help the team win in the future.
The size of the crowd matched the importance of the match
If one doubts just where the match would stand in comparison to an EPL or Champions League match (or even a final-stage Carabao Cup match), one needs look no further than the number of seats that were empty at Etihad Stadium. The stadium was maybe half-full, and likely less.
One cannot really blame Mancunians for not showing up on a Thursday night to watch a game that might as well have pitted City's under-21s against Norwich. At least the Norwich fans showed up on their end. They just stopped having much to root for after City took a 2-0 lead within 32 minutes of the opening half.
The win was great, of course, but the competition didn't allow for much education
All we ultimately learned from Manchester City's easy win was that if they played Norwich City in every match, City would never lose. The talent level between the EPL team and the one currently sitting 14th in the Championship is immense. Once City got rolling, they were unstoppable.
17-year-old Samba was especially impressive with the team's fourth goal, scored on a fabulous bend from Samba's right foot. It might have come against a Norwich City team in poor form, but it was still a beautiful thing to see.
The best part might be that City got the victory, will move forward in the domestic cup, and were able to keep key players fresh for the next English Premier League match. That happens on Sunday against Sunderland.
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