Manchester United 0 Manchester City 2 – Manchester City storm into fourth successive EFL Cup final           Updated for September 2024

Updated: 15th September 2024

Match Report: Manchester United 0 Manchester City 2 – Old Trafford – Wednesday 6th January 2021.

England EFL Cup Manchester City vs Tottenham Sunday 25 April 4pm Winner Odds

Full Time Result
Manchester City 4/5	Draw 13/5	Tottenham 10/3

The odds quoted as of 07/01/2021 and subject to change.

Bet at Bet365Bet at Bet365

Pep Guardiola's Man City set themselves up for a fourth straight EFL Cup title when they humbled Manchester United in a semi-final clash at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. City's progress was helped by second-half goals from John Stones and Fernandinho after the period before interval had goals disallowed at both ends. City now face Tottenham Hotspur in the final to be held in April this year.

Wednesday night's encounter between these two was a far cry from the drab goalless affair played out a month ago at the same venue.

The ball was inside the net on either side within the first 5 minutes as Jon Stones first inadvertently turned in a rebound from a Zack Steffen save from Marcus Rashford's attempt and  Ilkay Gundogan drove in a shot from a low Phil Foden cross at the other end but both efforts were correctly ruled offside by the VAR.

There was action nine minutes later as Bruno Fernandes tried his luck from 20 yards and saw his long-range effort tipped wide by keeper Steffen.

The game see-sawed as Raheem Sterling found Kevin De Bruyne on the edge of the box four minutes later with the Belgian's powerful strike ratting the post. Pep Guardiola's men were gradually beginning to assert control with Foden latching on to an Oleksandr Zinchenko pass, racing through and executing a calm finish only to be found fractionally offside as he made his run a bit too early.

The breakthrough eventually came in the second-half in the 50th minute as United's weakness against set-pieces stood exposed. A sweetly-taken free-kick bounced beautifully for Jon Stones who bundled in for his first goal since November 2017.

City pushed forward for a second and it was some smart goalkeeping from Dean Henderson that prevented goals from flowing in.

The United custodian pushed a powerful  header from Sterling wide and  tipped over a Riyad Mahrez curler from the edge of the area. Ole Solksjaer threw in his first substitute in the 75th minute in the form of Mason Greenwood but to little effect as Fernandinho sealed the game for the visitors five minutes later.

The hosts succumbed to another set-piece when Anthony Martial and Aaron Wan-Bissaka  failed to combine in clearing a corner cleanly as the ball fell kindly to Fernandinho at the edge of the box. The Brazilian made no mistake as he coolly drove his shot into the bottom corner of the net and put the game to bed in the 80th minute.

It was another silverware missed for Solskjaer, with United losing four cup semi-finals in the past 12 months. As for Guardiola, April's final clash will be his first against bitter rival Jose Mourinho since 2011 when the current Spurs boss's Real Madrid side denied Barcelona the treble by winning the Copa del Rey.

Manchester United starting XI: Henderson (goal), Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw, Fred, McTominay, Pogba, Fernandes, Rashford, Martial.

Subs: Greenwood, Van De Beek.

Man City starting XI: Steffen (goal), Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, Cancelo, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.

Subs: Rodri.

Man of the match: Fernandinho.

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