Phil leads his band of boy Blues to victory
THE City academy is on the charge - led by the mercurial Phil Foden.
The 20-year-old made one for 17-yearold striker Liam Delap and scored the winner to set up a Carabao Cup fourth round tie at Burnley next week.
And with Tommy Doyle and Delap also catching the eye among SEVEN home-grown starlets in a team with an average age of 21, it was a triumph of youth for the Blues.
The club has had plenty of criticism that their shiny CFA facility has hardly turned into a conveyor belt of talent - but amid heightened expectations, those youngsters are being asked to prove they are good enough, rather than be handed anything on a plate.
Foden, Doyle and Delap did just that, while defenders Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Eric Garcia had little chance to impress against a Cherries side happy to sit deep.
Delap has enjoyed the limelight since it became obvious he would make his debut in this game, and the teenager showed what all the excitement in the youth ranks was about with a splendid debut goal, brilliantly created by Foden.
The young striker is big, aggressive and has a lovely touch, and he clearly has an eye for goal.
He even did his usual EDS trick of picking up a yellow card for an unnecessary barge on the Bournemouth keeper - he needs to improve his disciplinary record. Guardiola had said he would not risk any of his front-line players but in the end he had to job-share between Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne, as well as using Raheem Sterling and Ben Mendy.
With a manager who loves his midfielders, it must have been specially gratifying to Guardiola that three of the midfield four in his 3-4-3 line-up were home-grown.
And with 18-year-old Doyle showing all the aggression of one grandad Mike, and the surety of passing of the other, Glyn Pardoe, City had a great platform.
Foden took on the burden of being the main man, at the grand old age of 20, in a team which averaged 21 years and eight months – and even that was dragged up by the ‘old men’ - 30-year-old Kyle Walker and 29-year-old Riyad Mahrez.
Foden was everywhere in the first half, pushing up on the packed Bournemouth defence and then dropping into the tight spaces as Doyle and Rodri pushed the Blues forward.
He dropped one pass perfectly for another 20-year-old, Ferran Torres, who was making his first start. He took the ball with his chest but when it dropped it skipped away on the slick surface, he was forced too wide and keeper Mark Travers was able to beat away the shot.
Next up was Mahrez, Foden sliding a pass which has become a speciality – again the Algerian found the angle too
tight to truly trouble Travers. On 18 minutes, the Stockport lad found the perfect ball and was rewarded with the perfect finish. He split the defence and Delap – the youngest player on the pitch – showed what all the fuss has been about.
He strode away from his marker and, while moving to the left of the box, confidently caressed his shot back into the opposite top corner.
The lead did not last long. City lined up with three at the back, and the Cherries sought to stretch them whenever they counter-attacked.
The Blues academy even provided the equaliser as David Brooks – wearing the red and back stripes these days – teed-up Sam Surridge, who beat Zack Steffen.
It was not such a great half for another of the youngsters, with Adrian Bernabe,
Pep Guardiola shows his concern for the injured Adrian Bernabe who had looked out of touch, picking up an injury which saw him stretchered off in tears. Mendy replaced him and City reverted to a more familiar 4-3-3, but they still faced a stubborn defence which hung in well.
Guardiola upped the stakes by replacing Rodri with De Bruyne on the hour mark, clearly a pre-planned substitution.
And then Sterling was thrown on as the Blues tried to avoid the lottery of penalties.
But chances were few and far between and City resorted to shooting from distance. It paid off.
Mahrez cracked a 20-yarder off the base of the post and when it rebounded at shin height to Foden, he expertly fired his shot into the ground to bounce it over the stranded keeper.
Liam Delap fires home City’s opener