Man City 2 Fulham 0: Brahim Diaz double sees holders cruise into Carabao Cup quarters

MANCHESTER CITY got some teenage kicks to brush aside Fulham and cruise into the Carabao Cup quarter finals.

Posted Friday, November 02, 2018 by Dailystar.co.uk

Man City 2 Fulham 0: Brahim Diaz double sees holders cruise into Carabao Cup quarters
Man City 2 Fulham 0: Braham Diaz's brace put Man City through to the quarter-finals

Pep Guardiola might have some of the finest talents in the business in his ranks at the Etihad.

But what should frighten opponents most is that the latest stars off the production line could go on to become the best of the lot.

Brahim Diaz might be just 19 and struggling for game time, but he made the most of his big chance with two impressive goals - his first for the club.

The Spain U21 international has been linked with a move to Real Madrid and on this evidence it isn’t hard to see why following some composed finishing that some of his more established team-mates lacked.

Not far behind Diaz was Phil Foden, 18, who pulled all the strings in midfield as Guardiola’s men ran riot without scoring the goals their creativity and flair deserved.

Guardiola made 10 changes, but could still include proven internationals like John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus.

The visitors, meanwhile, made just three changes to what appeared to be a strong line up.

One thing that had seemed guaranteed was goals, not least because City score them for fun and the Cottagers concede them for fun.

Man City 2 Fulham 0: Brahim Diaz double sees holders cruise into Carabao Cup quarters
Man City 2 Fulham 0: City's star-studded line up proved too strong for Fulham at the Etihad

Guardiola’s men had fired in 38 of them in total this season, while the London outfit had let in 11 in their last 12 games and had one of the worst defences in all four divisions.

It took City just 44 seconds to threaten when De Bruyne blazed straight at Sergio Rico before testing him again with his side’s next attack.

De Bruyne was at the heart of everything for City but spoiled an otherwise perfect night by limping off with a knee problem in the closing minutes.

It was left to Diaz to show his colleagues how to take a chance when the ball dropped to him invitingly on 19 minutes, his powerful effort flying past Rico following a deflection off the leg of Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Man City 2 Fulham 0: Brahim Diaz double sees holders cruise into Carabao Cup quarters
Man City 2 Fulham 0: Kevin de Bruyne limped off in the final few minutes with a knee injury

The siege continued with Danilo ratting the frame of the goal, Foden blazing over and De Bruyne hitting the roof of the net with a long-range free kick.

There was no let-up Jokanovic’s men as another flowing move ended up with Sane lashing his shot just over the crossbar.

Foden then headed wide from point blank range while Gabriel Jesus weaved through but did the same with a shot and somehow the scoreline remained 1-0.

Jesus then headed wide after the break and his misery was complete on 65 minutes when he saw another effort come back off the post. It was a night in which he did less in a box than illusionist David Blaine.

But thankfully Diaz was first to react to slam home the rebound and complete one of the most routine wins possible to pile the pressure on under-fire Cottagers boss Slavisa Jokanovic.