Pep Lijnders suggested he was happy with the “amount of goals” Manchester City scored as they “went after” Exeter City in an FA Cup savaging.
City had not won any of their last three games, and League One Exeter City were the unfortunate side to bear the brunt of the frustration stemming from that. A visit of a side two tiers below City could have seen them weaken their side.
Instead, the star names in the starting lineup included Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders, Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland. Three of those players found the net in the 10-1 romping of the League One club.
City had as many shots on target as they scored goals, though two own goals were scored, as they savaged their opponents in a ruthless display of attacking football.
From the reaction of City assistant Lijnders – who was in charge given the touchline ban of Pep Guardiola – the plan was for the Premier League giants to go on the attack from the off.
He said: “We know Exeter well. We had two days to prepare, and analysed it. From the first minute we showed a high press and we went after them, we respected them. It was a good performance and for the fans and the amount of goals. We kept pushing. A really good game for Man City”
City new boy Semenyo had a great debut, scoring and assisting as he was given the highest SofaScore rating of any player – a 9.5.
He’ll hope for similar returns in the games to come, though things will not be quite as easy in the immediate future, as City have a League Cup semi-final against Newcastle on Tuesday, before they travel to rivals Manchester United next weekend.
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City thumped United 3-0 in their last meeting, though last season, the Red Devils beat them in one game and honours were even in the other.
The Magpies also have form over City, having beaten them 2-1 when the sides last met in November.
But the Citizens couldn’t have put themselves into form much better than a 10-goal rout, no matter who their opponents were.
