Floyd Samba marked his Manchester City debut with a goal in each half as Enzo Maresca’s side swept Norwich City aside 5-0 at the Etihad to move into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, where Brighton will be the opposition.
The 17-year-old turned in a performance that showcased his slick forward game, combining speed, awareness, athleticism and a poacher’s eye for goal. He also has football in the family: an older brother by a year, Tyrone, is in the academy, and the pair’s father is Christopher, the former Blackburn and Queens Park Rangers defender.
For Maresca, the result brought a sixth successive win and maintained a 100% record for his nascent City project, barring the Community Shield. It also pointed to a manager shrugging off any doubts about succeeding Pep Guardiola, with his authority and stature growing with each victory. City host Sunderland on Sunday, and victory over Régis Le Bris’s side would send Maresca into the three-week international break on a high.
Maresca’s team selection was fluid, with the pacy Samba deployed at the sharp end. Only Rayan Cherki was retained from Sunday’s 1-0 win at Manchester United, while goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and Allan were the other players making their first appearances in a novel XI.
The first dividend came from the left, where Nico O’Reilly’s cross was fumbled by the visiting goalkeeper, Daniel Grimshaw. The ball dropped to Allan, who delivered back across the area for Samba to flick in a cute header and open the scoring. Moments later City doubled the lead, Samba laying off inside his own half to Ayyoub Bouaddi, who found Cherki to beat Grimshaw to his right. Norwich manager Philippe Clement was spared a collapse before the interval when Grimshaw dived at Samba’s feet to thwart him, though his side ended the half chasing the ball in a demonstration of the home side’s total control.
Cherki was rested for the second half, Ryan McAidoo replacing him, and it was not long before Allan joined Samba in scoring on his City bow. Positioned on the left, the Brazilian zig-zagged infield, beat Sam Field once, cut back to beat him again and found the far corner with a strike that winded Norwich once more. Maresca will have been displeased by an almost immediate Norwich raid down the left that ended with Kellen Fisher missing the target from inside the area, and the right-back’s profligacy was punished straight away when Samba collected the ball inside Norwich’s box and shaped a sweet finish into the far right corner, with the helpless Grimshaw watching it sail by. The game’s close was lit up by McAidoo’s sharp finish, an apt end to an impressive City victory.
Norwich had begun positively for a side sitting 14th in the Championship, tapping the ball about and getting Darlin Yongwa cruising down the left, with Allan flinging himself to the ground to block the left-back’s cross. They also limited City to an aimless Rico Lewis shot and a buccaneering Mateo Kovacic run that foundered in their area before the home side took command.