Aguero piles on agony for Saints
FALLOUT: MANAGER HASENHUTTL’S JOB IN JEOPARDY
London
Manchester City cruised into the League Cup quarterfinals as Sergio Aguero’s double added to struggling Southampton’s misery in a 3-1 win on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola’s League Cup holders were two up by half-time at the Etihad Stadium thanks to goals from Nicolas Otamendi and Aguero.
Guardiola had made nine changes to the team that beat Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday, giving a debut to midfielder Tommy Doyle, 18.
Doyle’s grandfather Mike was City’s captain when they won the League Cup in 1976 and the club remain on course to win the tournament for a seventh time.
City, who have lifted the trophy three times in the last four seasons, began the fourth-round tie serenaded by chants of “We want 10” in reference to the Saints’ 9-0 thrashing by Leicester on Friday.
Although City were never likely to match that incredible result, their progress was inevitable after a one-sided first half.
The breakthrough came in the 20th minute when Bernardo Silva looped in a cross and Otamendi headed home.
City’s second arrived in the 38th minute when Kyle Walker sent over a cross and Aguero, on his 350th club appearance, produced a precise close-range finish for his 11th goal of the season.
Southampton are languishing in the relegation zone amid speculation boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is in danger of being sacked.
Hasenhuttl’s cause was hardly helped when Aguero made it three for City in the 56th minute, the Argentine poking in after Riyad Mahrez’s shot deflected high into the penalty area.
It was little consolation for Southampton when Jack Stephens headed in from a James Ward-Prowse corner in the 75th minute. –