Guardiola says Man City's spirit is back after EFL Cup win

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's spirit has returned, after goals from Phil Foden and Savinho guided them to a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup third round.

City went without a major trophy for just the second time under Guardiola last season, finishing third in the Premier League, losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace and exiting the EFL Cup in the fourth round against Tottenham.

Despite making nine changes to their starting line-up, City claimed a comfortable victory over third-tier opposition on Wednesday, keeping one avenue to silverware open.

Foden opened the scoring, picking out the bottom corner following a give-and-go with impressive debutant Divine Mukasa, before the England international teed up Savinho for a powerful strike in the second half.

Speaking to Sky Sports after his team were drawn to face Swansea City in round four, Guardiola said: "It was a good one. 

"It is always tricky, but we played really well. They changed their shape, and we had to improve in our build-up, but we did really well in general.

"We are in the next round, it is good! Don't take it for granted. The spirit is back in many ways. I am so pleased. It was really good."

City won four straight editions of the EFL Cup between 2017-18 and 2020-21, yet they went into Wednesday's game having lost three of their last four games in the competition (one win).

City fired off 17 shots with a total expected goals (xG) value of 1.2, with Huddersfield only managing five efforts worth 0.2 xG and failing to hit the target at all.

But the Terriers' boss, former Manchester United goalkeeper Lee Grant, was proud of his players' performance.

He said: "We have worked extremely hard. We knew we would have to work hard. For us, the way we have done that and how we stuck together... I am proud of the guys.

"It is not easy, but there are plenty of positives to take from our standpoint. In terms of chance creation and big moments, we managed to limit them to a degree.

"We have to be respectful of how good they are. From our perspective, in terms of work rate and discipline, I am super proud of our team."