Manchester City booked their spot in the next round of the Carabao Cup after defeating Championship side Watford 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Carabao Cup
Result: Manchester City 2-1 Watford
Date: 24 September 2024
Venue: Etihad
Pep Guardiola made wholesale changes from the draw with Arsenal, as Kyle Walker and Jeremy Doku were the only players maintain their spot in the starting line-up.
The hosts needed just five minutes to get the breakthrough when Doku collected a pass from Jack Grealish and turned his marker before drilling the ball into the bottom corner for his first goal of the campaign.
The Championship side thought they had equalised after 21 minutes when Kwadwo Baah muscled his way past Kaden Braithwaite before firing home, however the celebrations were cut short due to a foul in the build up.
However, City were able to bag a second goal seven minutes before the break when Matheus Nunes was able to find the back of the net with a wonderful left-footed strike from distance after some good work by Rico Lewis.
Guardiola's charges continued to push for more goals and they were nearly rewarded in the 64th minute but substitute Savinho saw his strike brilliantly cleared off the line.
The chances continued to fall for the home side as Nunes fired straight at the Watford goalkeeper from close range, while Savinho went closer in the 72nd minute when his powerful strike crashed the upright.
Watford did reduce the deficit in the final four minutes via Tom Ince, who sent a superb strike into the top corner but the English champions were able to hold off a late push to secure the win.
