Foden strike hands City another Philip
MIDFIELDER DOWNS RESILIENT CHERRIES
PHIL FODEN continued his fine start to the new season to send holders Manchester City through to the fourth round.
Foden created City’s opener and scored their winner in the 75th minute as Pep Guardiola’s side were forced to dig deep to overcome a resilient Bournemouth team.
They maintained their quest for a fourth straight EFL Cup success and now go to Burnley in the next round.
Foden may have been City’s match- winner, but the night was also memorable for striker Liam Delap, 17, son of former Stoke midfielder Rory.
Delap marked his debut with a stunning strike to give City the lead and played the full 90 minutes, making his presence felt with some robust centre- forward play.
With so many players injured and Ilkay Gundogan isolating after testing positive for coronavirus, Guardiola dipped into his youth ranks while there was also a debut for goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Winger Ferran Torres, a £ 21million summer signing from Valencia, was handed a full debut too.
City, chasing a recordequalling eighth League Cup triumph, had not lost a tie since a 1- 0 defeat at rivals Manchester United in 2016.
Predictably, City dominated possession early on, Foden playing balls in behind the visitors for Torres and Riyad Mahrez, who were both denied by Bournemouth keeper Mark Travers.
But it was to prove third time lucky for City, Foden playing through to Delap, who produced a sublime finish into the top corner.
At 17 years and 229 days, Delap became City’s youngest scorer since Rony Lopes, who netted in an FA Cup tie against Watford in 2013 aged 17 years and eight days.
With City dominating possession and creating chances, it looked as though Delap’s opener would prove the platform for more.
But Bournemouth refused to roll over, Sam Surridge producing a clinical finish four minutes later to round off a slick move and get the visitors back on level terms.
The hosts put Jason Tindall’s side under relentless pressure in the second half, but Guardiola was forced to bring on Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling to help get
City over the line and break the Cherries’ resolve.
They eventually did with Foden’s strike, the midfielder turning the ball in after a Mahrez shot came back off a post to seal the victory.