Man City 5-0 Norwich: Youngster Samba shines with brace as Allan nets debut goal

Debutants Floyd Samba and Allan were among the goals for Manchester City as they coasted into the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a 5-0 rout of Norwich City.

Match Report 

Seventeen-year-old forward Samba netted twice at the Etihad Stadium, with Rayan Cherki, Ryan McAidoo and Allan – who joined from Palmeiras for a reported £34.2m last month – also on target for a much-changed City side.

Although the scoreline ended up being a handsome one for Enzo Maresca's men, they had to wait 29 minutes for the breakthrough. Allan retrieved an overhit cross on the right side of the box and helped the ball back into the danger zone, where Samba's deft diving header found the bottom-left corner.

City's second goal arrived after just three further minutes, though, with Morocco's World Cup breakout star Ayyoub Bouaddi – making just his second start for City – slipping in Cherki, who composed himself before slotting past Daniel Grimshaw.

Norwich avoided further punishment in the first half, but just three minutes into the second, Allan took in Rayan Ait-Nouri's pass, bamboozled Sam Field by checking back onto his left foot, then finished across Grimshaw into the far corner. 

Kellen Fisher and Anthony Musaba tried in vain to get Norwich back into the tie, but in between their attempts, a poor giveaway from the Championship side led to Samba curling into the bottom-right corner for his brace, with 54 minutes on the clock.

There was to be no debut hat-trick for the England under-17 international, but after Norwich substitute Mohamed Toure had a potential consolation goal disallowed for offside, fellow academy graduate McAidoo capped the scoring, sweeping home after a clever dummy from Rico Lewis in the 90th minute.

No stopping City with Brighton up next

Maresca made 10 changes to the City team that beat Manchester United in Sunday's controversial derby at Old Trafford, with Cherki the lone survivor in Thursday's XI.

But despite several big names sitting this game out, the holders never looked to be in danger here. They only had 14 shots and 1.38 expected goals (xG), but Norwich were restricted to just four attempts and 0.12 xG, with Maresca's men having a 65.9% possession share.

City have now progressed from 19 consecutive EFL Cup ties against lower-league opponents, since going out to Brighton – who were then a third-tier club – on penalties in the 2008-09 second round.

And the Seagulls will be City's opponents at the next stage, with Fabian Hurzeler's side returning to Manchester swiftly following Wednesday's 3-2 comeback win over United. 

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

6' The hosts win a free-kick as Darlin Yongwa brings down Allan in the area

9' Lewis is aiming for the roof of the net but it's just over the bar

14' Samba fails to get past the defenders

19' Highlight from Man City vs Norwich

21' Highlight from Man City vs Norwich

27' GOAL! Samba opens the scoring with his debut goal! Man City 1-0 Norwich

32' GOAL! Cherki finishes coolly in an one-on-one chance! Man City 2-0 Norwich

48' GOAL! Allan scores debut goal to extend the lead! Man City 3-0 Norwich

54' GOAL! Samba curls a shot and has his second one tonight! Man City 4-0 Norwich

55' Match Event for Man City vs Norwich

63' Match Event for Man City vs Norwich

66' McAidoo wants to get in on the action and he shoots on sight but it's way off target

67' Highlight from Man City vs Norwich

70' Samba unselfishly lays it off for McAidoo who can't quite squeeze his shot in at the far post

71' O'Reilly tries to flick into the back of the net but it's just wide

72' Allan is replaced by Kaden Braithwaite for Manchester City

75' Norwich think they've pulled one back but Mohamed Toure had just drifted offside

83' Match Event for Man City vs Norwich

Line-ups

Man City XI: Gerónimo Rulli, Kovacic, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Cherki, Lewis, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov, Allan, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Vitor Reis, Floyd Samba

Subs: Donnarumma, Elliot Anderson, Guehi, Antoine Semenyo, Matheus Nunes, Iliman Ndiaye, Enzo, Kaden Braithwaite, Ryan McAidoo

Norwich XI: S.Field, Harry Darling, Grimshaw, Darlin Yongwa, Ante Crnac, Anis Ben Slimane, Mathias Kvistgaarden, Jacob Wright, Papa Amadou Diallo, Bruno Alves, Kellen Fisher

Subs: Stacey, Vladan Kovacevic, Paris Maghoma, Anthony Musaba, Pelle Mattsson, Ben Chrisene, Mohamed Touré, Oscar Schwartau, Ruairi McConville