Bristol City v Manchester City – story of the match

Posted Wednesday, January 24, 2018 by PA

Manchester City are through to the final of the Carabao Cup following a 3-2 second-leg victory against Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The runaway Premier League leaders were in control of the tie following a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month and goals from Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne ensured their passage to Wembley.

Sane opened the scoring for Pep Guardiola’s side on the stroke of half-time with Aguero netting a fine breakaway goal shortly after the interval. Marlon Pack pulled one back for the hosts before Aden Flint levelled the score on the night, only for De Bruyne to score a third for City with virtually the final kick of the game.

Tweet of the match

Great finish from Aguero but what about the double flick & pass from De Bruyne!!! What a player.
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) January 23, 2018

Star man – Kevin de Bruyne

THAT''S THAT!! @DeBruyneKev!! pic.twitter.com/T3DlVrtqH9
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 23, 2018

The former Wolfsburg star has been impeccable this year and he did not allow his performance to drop against the Championship side. De Bruyne was at the very heart of City’s best attacking moves and capped a fine display with a dreamy assist for Aguero in the second half before adding his own stoppage-time winner.

Stat of the match

14 – Kevin de Bruyne has provided 14 assists for Manchester City in all competitions this season; more than any other player in the Premier League. Distributor.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 23, 2018

De Bruyne’s exquisite pass to tee up Aguero for City’s second goal of the night marked his 14th assist in all competitions. No other player in the Premier League has more this season.

Moment of the match

#BristolCity fail to clear their lines, allowing Silva to lay the ball off to Sane, whose close range strike beats the helpless Steele. 0-1. #BRCvMCY
— Bristol City FC (@bcfctweets) January 23, 2018

With just two minutes remaining until half time, and with the score level on the night, Hordur Magnusson should have cleared his lines. Instead, the Iceland international tried to be too clever shepherding the ball out for a goal kick, but he lost possession to Bernardo Silva with Leroy Sane reacting quickest to fire City in front.

Player Ratings

3-2 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate has done the job!
Props to @bcfctweets for a great tie. Well played and good luck for the rest of the season! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/FBD3qka9Jy
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 23, 2018

Bristol City: Luke Steele 7, Bailey Wright 7, Aden Flint 7, Hordur Magnusson 4, Joe Bryan 5, Korey Smith 5, Marlon Pack 7, Josh Brownhill 7, Liam Walsh, 6, Jamie Paterson 6, Bobby Reid 7. Substitutes: Nathan Baker (for Magnusson, 46) 6, Famara Diedhiou (for Walsh, 46) 6, Ryan Kent (for Paterson, 74) 5

Manchester City: Claudio Bravo 6, Kyle Walker 6, John Stones 5, Nicolas Otamendi 5, Alexander Zinchenko 6, Kevin De Bruyne 9, Fernandinho 7, David Silva 8, Bernardo Silva 6, Sergio Aguero 7, Leroy Sane 6. Substitute: Ilkay Gundogan (for Aguero, 82) 5, Danilo (for Walker, 85) 5