The big yawn

The Big Yawn

Relentless, metronomic, and efficient, Manchester City brushed aside a committed but hopelessly outclassed Huddersfield Town in a yawn-inducing encounter that ended the Terriers’ unusually long League Cup involvement for another year.

City’s domination of the ball, particularly in a disappointingly bland first half, made for a largely bloodless, sterile contest. It might have been improved had someone in blue and white crunched into a smug counterpart to lift the spirits of a home crowd dulled by the inevitable.

Connoisseurs of the modern game were no doubt purring at the sight of hugely talented elite players passing their inferior opponents into submission, while those of us of a certain age bemoaned the absence of an underdog’s relish for a scalp.

It may have helped Town’s cause to have selected someone up front other than fifth-choice striker Charles, who ran around without influencing the game even as a nuisance and posed not the slightest threat. But Exeter awaits.

The passivity of the Terriers quietened a crowd swelled by Premier League enthusiasts, and this was not helped by the necessary sacrifice of the South Stand to a noisy away support. The absence of hostility, on and off the pitch, gave the first half the air of an exhibition match as City strolled through with stark superiority.

For all their possession and quality, however, the visitors lacked penetration for much of the first period. They eventually took the lead through a strike by Foden worthy of any stage, arrowing a left-footed shot from outside the area beyond a helpless Nicholls after a neat one-two.

Town’s only attack of note before the break saw Wiles break into the box to take a Redmond ball in his stride, only to fire it a little too enthusiastically across the area. Sorensen, the nearest to making contact, was beaten by the pace.

Deservedly ahead at the break having barely broken sweat, City had established the gulf in class, and with their opponent suitably cowed, their tranquil path to the next round looked inevitable.

That journey was never truly threatened in a slightly more entertaining second half, though Town put up a little more of a fight despite being relentlessly pinned into their own half for long stretches.

Nicholls, solid throughout, made one excellent save to deny O’Reilly’s attempted chip when clean through, and was well positioned to make three or four other routine stops.

He was entirely helpless, however, to prevent a rasping drive from Savinho around the three-quarter mark. Having thwarted City for the first half-hour of the second period with a mix of accomplished and desperate defending, it was disappointing to leave the Brazilian international with so much space near goal—but the strike was devastatingly good.

If the tie had ever been in doubt, it was now over. Still, Town at least showed more ambition. Before the second goal sealed their fate, a good free-kick delivery saw Murray head wide when unmarked, while Redmond shot over from a good position after another set-piece header had been won in the box.

Cameron Ashia came on as a late substitute and immediately changed the dynamic down the left with a couple of promising carries, before curling an excellent effort against the post—the hosts’ highlight of a largely disappointing night.

Loaded with high-quality internationals—and Kalvin Phillips—City completed their task against opponents who never truly decided how to compete and, in the end, paid heavily for over-caution, though it could be argued that a bolder approach would only have brought an even heavier price.

Defensively, there was much to admire about the resilience, concentration, and discipline required to restrict such a quality-laden City. Feeney, in particular, stood out, while Nicholls surely tightened his grip on the keeper’s jersey.

As a spectacle, the game lacked the thrills usually hoped for in a David v Goliath contest. There was no chance for the underdog to unsettle petrostate-funded talent, and Grant’s team selection rather betrayed that his eyes were on Devon rather than on making it to the next round with another higher-league scalp.

A win on Saturday would more than compensate.