Manchester City cruised into the Carabao Cup fourth round with a dominant 5-0 win over Championship side Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium.
Manager Enzo Maresca made heavy changes from the side that won at Old Trafford days earlier, with Erling Haaland not even on the bench. The much-rotated holders still proved far too strong for a weakened Norwich team.
Key moments and scorers:
- 29'– 17-year-old Floyd Samba (on debut) opened the scoring with a glancing header from an Allan Elias pull-back after Nico O’Reilly’s cross.
- 32' – Rayan Cherki made it 2-0, finishing after Samba held up play and released Ayyoub Bouaddi.
- 48' – Allan Elias (the £34m summer signing from Palmeiras) marked his first appearance with a goal.
- 54'– Samba scored his second, calmly finishing after Rayan Aït-Nouri capitalised on a Norwich defensive error.
- 90' – Substitute Ryan McAidoo (another youngster) completed the scoring with a confident finish after more good work from O’Reilly.
City controlled the game comfortably (around 66% possession), created multiple big chances, and limited Norwich to virtually nothing. Norwich were denied a late consolation when a Mohamed Touré effort was disallowed.
The result sets up a fourth-round home tie against Brighton (who had knocked out Manchester United). Teenager Floyd Samba was the standout, scoring twice and assisting on debut.