Manchester City opened their Carabao Cup title defence in emphatic fashion, brushing aside Championship side Norwich City with a comfortable win at the Etihad. The headline story belonged to seventeen year old Floyd Samba, son of former top flight defender Christopher Samba, who marked his first senior appearance with two goals.
Enzo Maresca’s much changed lineup took time to unlock a stubborn Norwich backline, with Rico Lewis coming closest early on when his effort sailed just over the bar. Once the deadlock broke, though, City turned dominant within a matter of minutes. Samba nodded home from a cross supplied by fellow first team newcomer Allan, and soon after Rayan Cherki slotted a composed finish following a pass from Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The second period saw Allan add his name to the scoresheet too, cutting inside before curling a low strike beyond the goalkeeper. Samba then completed his memorable evening with a superbly placed effort into the far corner, and Ryan McAidoo rounded things off with a fifth goal as the rout continued. Norwich briefly celebrated what looked like a consolation through substitute Mohamed Toure, only for the effort to be chalked off for offside, allowing debutant goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli to keep a clean sheet.
The result extended City’s dominance over Norwich, who have now shipped nineteen goals without reply across their last three meetings and remain winless against them in five League Cup ties. For Maresca, it capped a productive week following his side’s win over Manchester United, and stretched their unbeaten run to six matches across all competitions since a chastening Community Shield loss to Arsenal.
City will next turn attention to Sunderland this weekend before the international break, while a mouthwatering fourth round clash with Brighton, conquerors of United, awaits in the cup.
