Burton crushed 9-0 as Jesus inspires City

CARABAO CUP SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG

GABRIEL JESUS struck four goals as Manchester City powered towards the Carabao Cup final with a ruthless 9-0 demolition of League One Burton at the Etihad Stadium.

The tone for a one-sided semifinal first leg was set as Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring after just five minutes, with Jesus adding two and Oleksandr Zinchenko another before the break.

Jesus grabbed two more in a 13-minute second-half blitz that also saw Phil Foden and Kyle Walker hit the target before Riyad Mahrez completed the scoring late on.

It was City’s biggest win since they thrashed Huddersfield 10-1 in 1987 and ensured the second leg will be a formality.

By the end it was cruel on Burton and their fans, many of whom had endured an arduous journey to get to the game.

There were even some suggestions kick-off could be delayed after hundreds of approximately 3,000 travelling fans were caught up in traffic following a police incident on the M6 in Staffordshire.

By the scheduled 7.45pm start, however, the vast majority did appear to have made it inside the stadium – although they may soon have been wishing they had not – as City repeated the clinical performance which had seen Rotherham United swept aside in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Jesus was delighted to score four goals for the first time in his career.

The Brazilian said: “I’m so happy about this (scoring four) and about the game.

“We played very well and with respect, that’s important. I’m very happy.

“Players like me want to play more, to help the team, and we went out there to win.

“We play very well. We go onto the pitch to win the game. We know we have a second game so we’ll prepare for the second game.”