A much-changed Manchester City side still had enough in their tank to comfortably breeze past Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the third round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.
The Terriers used to host Premier League matches, but the hosts now find themselves in League One, with the gulf between the two teams very much evident come the final whistle as City’s quality inevitably shone through.
In particular, Phil Foden had a sublime night in West Yorkshire as the six-time Premier League title winner reminded everyone of how superb he can be when on top form.
Foden's standout performance in numbers
It shouldn’t be the greatest shock in the world that Foden showed up and performed with the swagger he did, considering the 45-time England international does have 102 goals for the Citizens at a senior level.
Still, in recent times, Foden hasn’t always performed at his exquisite best, but he very much turned on the style under the John Smith’s Stadium floodlights to spearhead the youthful XI picked by Pep Guardiola to a straightforward win.
It would be Foden who would break the deadlock after an uneventful start to the Cup clash, with the tricky number 47 linking up with young prospect Divine Mukasa with a quick exchange of passes, before hammering home this fierce effort past a helpless Lee Nicholls.
He would then turn provider late on for Savinho to bag a confidence-boosting effort, with three key passes and two successful dribbles by his name come the full-time whistle, as per Sofascore, only reinforcing how hard he was to contain from the home side’s perspective.
With a further goal and assist also coming his way against Manchester United and Napoli, too, it appears that Foden is back to his stylish peak, after losing his way somewhat with niggly injury setbacks.
Foden’s obvious class made up for other attackers underperforming with the spotlight on them, with one promising City starlet – in particular – just lacking that final end product that the Stockport-born ace showed off in abundance against Lee Grant’s men.
The Man City star in danger of being axed
That isn’t to say that none of Guardiola’s rotated team didn’t perform against their lowly opposition, with Mukasa presumably proud of his efforts come the end of the 2-0 victory, having assisted Foden’s opener. On his senior debut, it was a memorable night for the teenage attacker.
Moreover, Nathan Ake stood firm throughout against the League One hosts, having just been a substitute against Arsenal, with a staggering 120 accurate passes standing out, alongside the Dutchman winning two aerial duels when rarely tested.
Oscar Bobb also showed flashes of his excellence in West Yorkshire, but it’s unfortunately unlikely to be enough for the Norwegian youngster to remain in the first team fold for Premier League clashes to follow.
After all, while the slick winger did burst forward and complete three successful dribbles, he very rarely tested Nicholls in the same way Foden did, with the 22-year-old needing to find his shooting boots to guarantee more regular senior minutes.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
87
Shots
1
Accurate passes
58/62 (94%)
Accurate crosses
0/3
Possession lost
17x
Successful dribbles
3/7
Total duels won
3/9
Indeed, despite lasting the full 90 minutes and amassing a hefty 87 touches of the ball, Bobb would only manage to register one limp effort at the home side’s busy goal.
Moreover, on the creative front, the hot-and-cold number 52 would also give up the ball a high 17 times, leading to City content creator Steven McInerney stating that the Oslo-born forward “created absolutely nothing” of note.
Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski was a tad more complimentary with his post-match musings, having handed out a 7/10 rating to Bobb after the dust had settled slightly on the Cup win.
Still, despite hailing the 22-year-old as ‘tricky’, Bajkowski did also emphasise that the Scandinavian attacker must have been left with the feeling after the game that he could have offered more to make a compelling case for consistent first-team minutes moving forward.
Having only been present on the pitch for a mere 18 minutes across City’s last three games heading into this Cup encounter – after starting against Brighton and Hove Albion at the close of August – it does feel as if Bobb will just return to the bench now, while Foden aims to impress even more.