They think it’s all over... ...well, they’re absolutely right, actually
MANCHESTER CITY POWER TO 9-0 LEAD IN FIRST LEG OF CARABAO CUP SEMI-FINAL AGAINST THE BREWERS:
NIGEL Clough believed a Burton Albion triumph over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals might be the greatest upset of them all.
Now we know exactly why. Manchester City illustrated every aspect of the quality that has them rightly pegged as one of the best sides in modern English football history, thrashing the Brewers 9-0 in the first leg of the last-four tie at the Etihad Stadium.
It was 4-0 by half-time and despite a bright quarter of an hour in each half from a Burton side unwilling to sit back and be dominated for 90 minutes, Clough’s side avoided the club’s worst-ever defeat - against Barnet in 1970 - by only a single goal.
Gabriel Jesus typified the class oozed by the hosts by scoring four times but there was skill and intensity wherever a blue shirt lurked.
Burton will be frustrated by the similarity of so many of the goals but they knew the size of the challenge before kick-off.
The second leg at the Pirelli Stadium on January 23 will now be a high-profile exhibition.
The real question is whether they can bounce back from such a shellacking in time for this weekend’s League One meeting with Gillingham.
Much of the pre-match talk in the press box was about whether kickoff at the Etihad may have to be delayed, with hundreds of Brewers fans caught up in M6 traffic delays on the way to the ground.
But the players emerged into the floodlit arena just before the allotted 7.45pm start time, with De Bruyne, David Silva and Leroy Sane among the attacking talents taking their place in the contest.
For Albion, there were three
changes from the side that triumphed over Rochdale on Saturday.
Stephen Quinn’s groin injury ruled him out but John Brayford was fit to return, while Ben Fox and David Templeton dropped out for Liam Boyce and Kieran Wallace.
For Wallace, who signed a deal until the end of the season on Tuesday, this was some way to make a first appearance in this season’s competition.
Burton’s continued set-up in their favoured 4-3-3 system showed they would make a valiant attempt at downing the Premier League champions and would not be sitting back to soak up 90 minutes of pressure.
That was evident in their surge forward from the kick-off, with Lucas Akins running upfield and firing a low shot at Aro Muric’s goal within 10 seconds.
It did not take long, though, for a reminder of the gargantuan challenge ahead of them to arrive.
Silva bent in a well-weighted ball from the left and De Bruyne got between Albion’s centre-half pairing of Ben Turner and Jake Buxton to cushion a header past Bradley Collins.
Burton were not bowed by such an early setback.
Indeed, they enjoyed a good 20-minute spell after going behind, with Scott Fraser and Akins leading the charge.
It was work by that pairing that created the Brewers’ outstanding chance of the game.
Fraser laid the ball out to Akins, whose low cross from the left took a slight deflection and ran into the path of Marcus Harness, lurking unmarked at the back-post area.
Fresh from Saturday’s hat-trick heroics, the Burton winger leaned back and lifted his left-footed shot over Muric’s bar.
It would not get better for the visitors.
Clough will have been pleased with his side’s response to De Bruyne’s goal. There was no lack of intent going forward, with several players getting up in support of Boyce on each occasion.
Albion were given a lifeline when Riyad Mahrez had an effort disallowed for offside from a floated Ilkay Gundogan pass.
City kept coming with balls lofted delicately over Albion’s back line and into the path of dangerous runners, though.
And it led to their second goal in the 30th minute, which sparked a devastating three-goal salvo to completely change the complexion of the tie before half-time.
This time, Gundogan’s clever pass found Sane running in behind. While his shot was saved at close
quarters by Collins, Jesus was following up to nod home the rebound.
Another lofted pass led to another Jesus goal four minutes later. Silva was the one to spring the offside trap this time, with Reece Hutchinson not getting out in time.
The mercurial City midfielder controlled it before laying possession across to Jesus, who converted his second in off the post.
Three became four within a matter of moments.
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s first goal for Guardiola’s side will not be forgotten quickly, a nonchalant, firsttime sweep rising and then dipping in from 25 yards. His expression suggested he had not meant to go for goal, however.
Perhaps stung by having been so openly attacked by Burton for a short period of time, there was no let-up from the hosts.
Had it not been for a superb reaction save by Collins on the stroke of half-time, Mahrez would have added his name to the first-half goalscorers.
Fraser was not far away from testing Muric just after the break, lifting an effort over after Wallace’s clever
pass set Akins into an attack.
He looked to lead Burton’s tempo at the start of the second half.
But City summed up the contest with one move and began to give Burton the comprehensive lesson many feared could be on the cards.
Having begun the second 45 in a casual manner, they upped the pace for a single move and found the net.
Mahrez traded passes with Silva to get in behind and he beat the ball to the bye-line to loft it across for Jesus, rising high to nod home his hat-trick goal.
And with that, the floodgates opened.
Substitute Phil Foden was only just on the pitch when he converted a rebound from a Jesus shot to make it 6-0, before Silva spurned a great chance to get his name on the scoresheet.
It was soon 7-0, though, Sane’s skilful pass through the legs of Brayford allowing Jesus to get his fourth with a deft touch.
No score looked enough for the hosts.
The eighth goal came through a familiar route, City attacking down the channels, getting into a crossing position - this time through Mahrez - and applying the killer touch in the box.
Kyle Walker was the man this time. Thoughts turned to the Brewers’ heaviest defeat. The record books show that as a 10-0 defeat to Barnet in the Southern League Premier Division in 1970.
This cup clash was on another footballing stratosphere but Albion will still have wanted to avoid any further humiliation against the Premier League champions.
That double-figure scoreline edged closer when Mahrez got in on the act from close range.
That was after another fine Collins save, tipping Silva’s drive on to the post.
The City fans urged their side on for a 10th in the dying stages, supporters as goal-hungry as the players.
It did not come. That mercy, at least, was afforded the visitors.
There is a second leg to come, of course.