MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Holders Manchester City can look forward to defending the League Cup in next month's final at Wembley as Gabriel Jesus struck four goals in a 9-0 thrashing of Burton Albion in their semi-final, first leg on Wednesday (Jan 9).
Kevin de Bruyne, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez were also on target against Nigel Clough's League One side as City ensured their visit to the Pirelli Stadium on January 23 is a mere formality.
After also thrashing Rotherham 7-0 in the FA Cup on Sunday with a much-changed side, Pep Guardiola was able to again hand a rest to a number of his key players but named a strong side with De Bruyne continuing his comeback from injury.
And the Belgian set the tone for the evening by heading City into a fifth-minute lead as he timed his run into the box perfectly to head home David Silva's cross.
Clough admitted before the game it would take a "miracle" for Burton to blunt the Premier League champions' might over two legs.
So it proved, but the visitors missed a glorious chance to get straight back on level terms when Marcus Harness blasted over Lucas Akins's cross when completely unmarked inside the penalty box.
It took City until the half hour mark to double their advantage, but a glut of three goals in seven minutes followed to put the tie to bed before the break.
Jesus headed home his first from close range after Bradley Collins had denied Leroy Sane before the Brazilian slotted home Silva's cushioned pass via the inside of the post.
City didn't need any luck, but still got some when Zinchenko's intended cross then looped over Collins to make it 4-0.
Other sides may have slacked off in the second period, but with competitions for places so fierce among Guardiola's side, the hosts were ruthless to match the Catalan's biggest ever win as a coach.
Jesus powered home a header to complete his second hat-trick of the season.
De Bruyne was then replaced by home favourite Foden, who was surprisingly left out the stating XI, just before the hour mark.
It took just four minutes for the 18-year-old to score his third City goal as he profited from the rebound after Collins did well to parry Jesus's first effort.
Jesus did soon have his fourth with a delicate finish from Sane's cross and City's dominance was summed up when right-back Kyle Walker strode forward to fire home his side's eighth of the evening.
Mahrez made it nine seven minutes from time and those City fans still in the Etihad cried for a historic 10th.
But that was the only thing City fell short of on the night with a final meeting against Tottenham or Chelsea on February 24 guaranteed.
Pep Guardiola wants the pain of Manchester City's gut-wrenching Champions League elimination at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur to inspire a charge for an unprecedented domestic treble. Guardiola's side take on Spurs at the Etihad Stadium again on Saturday after VAR ruled out what would have been a stoppage-time winner
Guardiola Hopes Champions League Pain Spurs On Man City
AC Milan stumble to goalless draw at Frosinone. vanguardngr.com 3+ mon ago AC Milan's push for a top-four finish in Serie A took a hit on Wednesday as Gennaro Gattuso's side were held to an uneventful 0-0 draw at struggling Frosinone.
Gattuso's last Milan chance | Football Italia
Qatar hammer hosts UAE before hostile crowd. Jan 30, 2019, 5:00 am. Football: Iraqi footballers face probe over night out during Asian Cup. Jan 28, 2019, 8:02 pm.
Qatar thrash UAE to reach Asian Cup football final | News
Leicester line up Brendan Rodgers to replace under-fire boss Claude Puel Celtic boss is a prime target if Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha chooses to sack the Frenchman after the clash with Wolves this
Report: Leicester City make Rodgers top target following Puel
May 01, 2019 · Jan Vertonghen will not play for Tottenham at Bournemouth on Saturday as the club continue to monitor him in the wake of the head injury he suffered in Tuesday night's Champions League defeat
Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen to visit neurologist over head
Apr 03, 2019 · Jürgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah has adapted brilliantly to the extra attention he has attracted this season and is unconcerned by the longest goalscoring drought of the striker's Liverpool
Official Liverpool FC Store | Liverpool FC Ball
AD
store.liverpoolfc.com/ball
Report Ad
Browse Our Wide Range Of Exclusive Liverpool FC Souvenirs. Shop Online Now.
Barcelona can end Real's title hopes MADRID • After eliminating Real Madrid from the King's Cup in midweek, Barcelona now have the opportunity to send their arch-rivals packing in the title race, too.
Barcelona can end the hopes of title of real madrid in el
Jan 16, 2019 · Son Heung-min helps South Korea beat China 2-0 at Asian Cup. Son Heung-min earned a penalty and then assisted on his team's second goal to help South Korea beat China 2-0 at the Asian Cup
Son helps South Korea to win Asian Cup group, Football News
Puppet's "if" statements behave much like those in any other language. The if condition is evaluated first and, if it is true, only the if code block is executed. If it is false, each elsif condition (if present) is tested in order, and if all conditions fail, the else code block (if present) is executed.
Puppet (software) - Wikipedia
Luis Suarez to miss China Cup for Uruguay due to ankle sprain Luis Suarez, 32, is expected to miss between 10 and 15 days after limping off late in Sunday's 4-1 win at Real Betis in La Liga.
Injured Luis Suarez Ruled Out of China Cup - News18
Aug 24, 2011 · Tottenham Hotspur poised to receive £8.5m from Boris Johnson This article is more than 7 years old London mayor offering football club financial assistance to revamp their stadium and help
Why West Ham, Not Tottenham, Are Poised to Be London's Next
0 comments:
Post a Comment