Manchester City 2-1 Watford: Nunes seals EFL Cup progress

Matheus Nunes’ first Manchester City goal proved the difference as Pep Guardiola’s team beat Watford 2-1 to progress to the EFL Cup fourth round.

Tom Ince set up a nervy ending for the hosts at the Etihad Stadium, but Championship side Watford could not find a late equaliser to force a penalty shootout.

City got off to a quick start, helped by Ryan Porteous’ loose backpass, as James McAtee pounced before Jack Grealish teed up Jeremy Doku for a pinpoint finish into the bottom corner after five minutes.

Kwadwo Baah thought he had equalised in the 21st minute, drilling his low shot into the far post, but he was penalised for a foul on debutant Kaden Braithwaite.

Rico Lewis then opened up Watford’s defence with a driving run before laying it off to Nunes, whose low effort crept past Jonathan Bond to double City’s lead before the break.

Ince cleared Savinho’s effort off the line before the Brazilian also struck the inside of the post as City searched for a third, while Bond made impressive stops to deny Nunes and Grealish.

Yet it was Watford who struck next – Ince bending a lovely finish beyond Stefan Ortega, but the visitors failed to test City again after that.

FULL-TIME | Into the next round of the @Carabao_Cup

2-1 #ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/ecXNtgaai8

— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 24, 2024

Data Debrief: No end to the City hoodoo for Watford

It has been a while since these two sides last met following Watford’s relegation from the Premier League, but City always enjoy facing them.

They have now won each of their last 16 matches against Watford in all competitions by an aggregate score of 60-9, while they have also been responsible for the Hornets’ last seven domestic cup exits.

It was another dominant performance for the hosts, who had 24 shots overall, getting eight of those on target as they created an expected goals of 1.98 compared to Watford’s 0.46.