FA Cup holders Manchester City progressed to the fourth round of the 2023/24 competition on Sunday after comfortably dispatching Huddersfield Town 5-0 at the Etihad.
After a frustrating opening 30 minutes, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez netted, with the former grabbing a second after the break, in what is becoming a typically superb display from middle for the England international. Oscar Bobb was also on target, while Jeremy Doku scored a fifth on an afternoon that was made complete by the return of Kevin De Bruyne after nearly fifth months out with injury.
Pep Guardiola made five changes ahead of the game with Stefan Ortega, Sergio Gomez and Bobb among those to come into the heavily rotated team, while the injured Erling Haaland continued to watch on from the sidelines.
Yet, the alterations didn’t affect City’s rhythm or fluidity, even if Huddersfield’s deep 5-4-1 shape proved difficult for the hosts to break down. Alvarez and Foden both forced routine saves from Huddersfield keeper Lee Nicholls in a quiet opening half an hour.
Excluding Haaland, Foden and Alvarez are City’s top scorers this season, and it was no surprise they were the duo to find a way past the dogged opposition defence in the latter stages of the first half. Foden got things going when Alvarez’s 33th-minute shot deflected into his path, and City’s no.47 rifled past Nicholls from acute angle.
Then Foden, Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis combined in the box, with the ball falling to the eagerly awaiting Alvarez at the back post, who managed to poke it through the legs of Tom Lees and into the back of the net.
The quickfire double killed off any hope of an unlikely win for David, as Goliath only strengthened after the break by introducing Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, who returned from injury.
But it was youngster Oscar Bobb who provided the impetus for a third and after shooting wide in the early stages of the second half, he saw the ball fly into the back of the net when his cross in the 58th minute deflected off Ben Jackson and went in.
It was 4-0 soon after as the mercurial Foden fired from distance when Mateo Kovacic flicked the ball into his path from a well-worked corner routine. Even for Foden this one was special as he powerfully placed it into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
This was as one-sided an affair as fans will see this season, but Huddersfield did offer a threat on the break, with Stefan Ortega standing tall and denying Sorba Thomas’ one-on-one chance.
But when the next goal came it was only ever going to be from those in sky blue. The fifth provided perhaps the biggest cheer of the afternoon, with De Bruyne capping his return to the side with a trademark assist. City’s no.17 overlapped Bobb and then chipped a ball back from the byline, which was dispatched with an excellent half-volley from Doku.
Sergio Gomez could have made it six late on, but his powerful effort was tipped over by Nicholls, while Ortega was called into action for a second time as he clawed away a strike from Bojan Radulovic. Here's how we rated the City players...
1. Stefan Ortega- 7
Made a great stops to deny Thomas and Radulovic in what was a very quiet afternoon for the German.
2. Manuel Akanji- 6 (off 18)
On the receiving end of a strong challenge from Alex Matos and, after trying to continue, had to be replaced.
3. Ruben Dias- 6
Made one major error which presented Thomas with his second-half chance, but Dias used the ball well during the game.
4. Josko Gvardiol- 7
Spent as much time in the opposition half as his own, and the defender rarely looked stretched at the back.