Pep finds another diamond in Diaz
MANCHESTER CITY are usually razor sharp with their contract renewals. They quickly need to find some common ground with Brahim Diaz, however.
The 19-year-old could depart this summer and talks are at an impasse. Nobody here will want last night’s double, his first goals for the club, to be the abiding memory.
Diaz, previously namechecked alongside Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho by the club’s hierarchy as a shining light of their academy, is too talented to be allowed to leave. Sancho has already gone and is thriving at Borussia Dortmund — City could really do without Diaz following suit.
Dortmund and Real Madrid are two casting watchful eyes over the forward, who relished this outing — his first home start since joining the academy from Malaga in 2013.
Foden was not bad either, by the way. He looks increasingly at home at this level, owning natural grace and poise.
The only blemish was the withdrawal of Kevin De Bruyne, who hobbled off with five minutes remaining after Timothy Fosu-Mensah fell on his leg. However, it looked like a problem with the Belgian’s left knee, rather than the right he injured in August. Yet the evening was Diaz’s. ‘The cup competitions are really important for the younger players and we look forward to them coming around,’ Diaz said beforehand. ‘It’s more experience.’
An experience to remember, it turned out. City, the holders of this competition, led within 18 minutes and Diaz was the one wheeling away.
This was not an aesthetically special first goal by any stretch but the Spaniard cared not. Fabian Delph’s high, looping ball towards Sergio Rico’s back post simply was not dealt with sufficiently and Vincent Kompany bundled the ball back in Diaz’s direction. It momentarily rolled loose before youthful desire took over and Diaz fizzed home with the help of Aleksandar Mitrovic’s deflection.
Pep Guardiola spun and punched the air, and City didn’t look back. Diaz almost added a second after a fabulous one-two with Gabriel Jesus, his ingenious flick blocked. And City somehow managed to recycle that move before Foden fired over.
Danilo struck the angle of Rico’s near post when he rampaged through after collecting Diaz’s incisive pass, while Foden had another stinging effort beaten away. Soon after, Foden’s final ball to Leroy Sane was perfect but the Germany winger smashed over.
City played calypso football for spells of the opening period, not least when Jesus danced with stepovers and curled wide. The youngsters — left back Oleksandr Zinchenko included — took care of possession.
Given the apathy towards the Carabao Cup that surrounds Premier League clubs before the quarter-final stage, it actually felt like this could well have been on show over the road at the City Football Academy.
Whatever you may think, these are important nights for certain individuals though and it is why the least prioritised piece of silverware is still of
real use to even the largest of squads.
‘Phil is my brother and we train hard to play and improve alongside the players we have here,’ Diaz said. ‘We push each other, try to impress the boss and maybe we can both play in the team one day? Why not? Our aim is to one day play in the City team (regularly) together. There is no reason why this can’t happen.’
What was noticeable about Diaz’s first appearance since the previous round at Oxford United was his match-up with Ryan Sessegnon.
The Fulham full back is a year younger but has two full seasons in the Championship behind him and is physically more mature.
Sessegnon has gained a stone in weight over the summer, hitting the gym in a bid to bulk up ahead of this debut year in the top flight.
It showed on occasion, Diaz nudged off the ball, but the City winger soon learned new tricks, such as coming deeper for the ball, and that is testament to his resilience.
Fulham, whose manager Slavisa Jokanovic is under increasing pressure, actually grew more confident before and after half-time. The strong line-up he named was with the hope of developing continuity. He had wanted his first-choice defenders to play further minutes alongside each other before Monday’s crunch trip to Huddersfield.
And Fulham forward Andre Schurrle should have done better when he curled straight at City’s young goalkeeper Aro Muric.
It was left to Diaz to settle this. Jesus, who was bright but cannot buy a goal at the moment, saw his effort tipped on to the post with 25 minutes remaining.
Diaz collected the rebound, steadied himself, and thundered City into the last eight. MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Muric 6.5; Danilo 7, Stones 7, Kompany 7, Zinchenko 6.5; Delph 7, De Bruyne 7.5 (Gomes 86min), Foden 7; DIAZ 8.5 (Mahrez 78), Jesus 7, Sane 7. Subs not used: Ederson, Walker, B Silva, Sterling, Aguero. Scorers: Diaz 18, 65. Booked: Kompany. Manager: Pep Guardiola 7. FULHAM (4-3-3): Rico 6; Fosu-Mensah 6, Ream 5 (Le Marchand 69, 6), Odoi 6, R Sessegnon 7; Seri 6.5, Cairney 7, Anguissa 6; Vietto 6.5 (Christie 90), Mitrovic 7, Schurrle 6 (Ayite 81). Subs not used: Fabri, Mawson, S Sessegnon, De La Torre. Booked: None. Manager: Slavisa Jokanovic 6.5. Referee: Martin Atkinson 7. Attendance: 35,271.