WHAT WE LEARNED SIMON BAJKOWSKI
FERNANDINHO ABSENCE IMPORTANT
PEP Guardiola praised Fernandinho after the opening Premier League game of the season but said that while he would be hugely important this season, he cannot play every three days.
That the midfielder was absent for this Carabao Cup tie points towards his involvement against Leicester on Sunday.
It wasn’t clear at the beginning of the season how important Fernandinho would be - not least because the club signed his replacement Rodri more than a year ago - but the veteran remains integral to the manager’s plans. Also a notable absence for Gabriel Jesus, who ran himself into the ground covering for Sergio Aguero at the back end of last season and will need to be managed in the next few months if his fellow striker cannot get back onto the pitch.
A TALE OF TWO CENTRE-BACKS
Nicolas Otamendi was on the bench at Wolves and Aymeric Laporte should be back for
Leicester, so this game should have had the Argentine’s name all over it. That it did not hints that his time at the club could be coming to a close. So too could Eric Garcia’s, but the fact he started in spite of strong interest from Barcelona showed that Guardiola is happy to play the young defender for as long as he remains at the Etihad. FODEN TAKES OVER PLAYMAKER DUTIES
WITH David Silva gone and Kevin
de Bruyne on the bench, it was Foden who stepped up to be the architect of the side last night.
That lovely slipped ball through to Liam Delap in the 18th minute was actually the third chance he had created as he wreaked havoc in Bournemouth’s final third.
After good work from Mahrez, Foden showed composure to score the second goal when it bounced into his path from the post.
He has had a headstart on
Riyad
Mahrez, but should be ahead of both him and Ferran Torres when the selection is made for Sunday’s Premier League game.
CITY’S CUP REIGN CONTINUES
PEP GUARDIOLA may gripe about the timing of the competition - especially with a squad so depleted - but he showed his will to win by chucking Benjamin Mendy, Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling on with the game level. Next week’s trip to Burnley in the fourth round will be even more difficult than
this this, but if they can get through that then City can forget about the competition until Christmas and by then they will be in the quarterfinals with only 180 minutes separating them from another trip to Wembley.
STEFFEN SOLID ON DEBUT THERE was a momentary heart-inmouth moment in the second half as debutant keeper Zack Steffen came flying out of his box on a rare Bournemouth counter. The US international quickly snuffed the danger out, though, showing excellent feet and awareness of play in what was a positive start to his new challenge at City.