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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola during the FA Cup Third Round match at the City of Manchester Stadium, January 7, 2024
Man City 5-0 Huddersfield Town
by James Nalton
at City of Manchester Stadium
MANCHESTER CITY eased past Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup third round, scoring five without reply to begin the defence of one of the many trophies they are currently in possession of.
Pep Guardiola does not take lower division opponents lightly, and this was reflected in the job City did on Sunday afternoon.
The home fans were buoyed further by the return of Kevin De Bruyne, who had been out of action since playing 23 minutes of City’s Premier League opener at Burnley, where he came off with a hamstring injury.
De Bruyne entered in the second half and assisted a goal for fellow substitute Jeremy Doku who finished well on the half-volley.
His last assist came in August in the Community Shield for Cole Palmer, who is now at Chelsea.
It shows how much has changed in the four months De Bruyne has been out — a long time in football.
In his absence, 23-year-old City academy product Phil Foden has emerged as one of the best players in the team. He showed as much by scoring two of the five goals.
Huddersfield did have the ball for the first couple of minutes of the game, but it was pretty much the last they saw of it.
City set up camp in the opposition half and proceeded to try to find a way past 11 defenders.
The opener came when Alex Matos blocked Julian Alvarez’s shot and Foden was on hand to steer in the rebound.
A second came when Alvarez took advantage of a quick bit of passing between Foden, Matheus Nunez and Rico Lewis to poke to ball into the corner.
Oscar Bobb resumed the goalscoring in the second half, though his shot deflected off Ben Jackson and will go down as an own goal, before Foden fired one low into the corner from outside the area in another demonstration of his quality.
De Bruyne quickly settled into this new-look City side, playing probing passes and finding his feet physically, and then finding compatriot Doku for the fifth.
The Belgian’s return will be more than useful as City try to defend the three trophies they won last season.
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