Kevin de Bruyne returned to competitive football for the first time since August as Manchester City began their FA Cup defense with a comfortable win against Huddersfield Town at the Etihad Stadium.
De Bruyne, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, came on in the second half as two goals from Phil Foden as well as strikes from Julian Alvarez, Jeremy Doku and an own goal from Ben Jackson sent Pep Guardiola’s side into the fourth round .
Manchester City won the trophy last year as part of an epic Treble-winning season and few gave Huddersfield – 21st in the Championship – much of a chance of causing an upset.
The visitors kept their opponents out for 33 minutes with some resolute defending but City always looked capable of getting through the gears and opened the scoring when Foden fired home from inside the box after Alvarez’s shot was blocked.
Alvarez then got on the scoresheet after the hosts opened up Huddersfield’s defense with some intricate passing before the Argentine striker’s deft finish rolled into the net.
A misplaced pass intended for De Bruyne from the impressive Oscar Bobb then deflected off Jackson and into the net early in the second half before Foden smashed home the second.
Doku, also returning from injury, grabbed the home side’s fifth when he swept home with Huddersfield keeper Lee Nicholls blocked.
There were chants of “we want 10” from some home fans, with older fans perhaps remembering the 10-1 victory enjoyed by City against Huddersfield in 1987.
That never looked likely and, to the Terriers’ credit, they battled hard and defended well at times against a City side capable of dismantling almost any team at any level.
More to come.
How to play
Rate players out of 10 during or after the game. The scorer will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Score range key = Give it up = Pure perfection
Huddersfield Town
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Group number1Name of playerNichols
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Group number17Name of playerSpencer
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Group number32Name of playerSediment
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Group number5Name of playerHelik
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Group number2Name of playerEdmonds-Green
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Group number30Name of playerJackson
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Group number23Name of playerWiles
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Group number8Name of playerRudoni
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Group number21Name of playerEye
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Group number10Name of playerKoroma
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Group number14Name of playerThomas
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Group number9Name of playerRadulovic
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Group number11Name of playerDiarra
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Group number39Name of playerIorpeda
Lining up
Man City
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 18Ortega
- 25AkanjiSubstituted forNunesin the 18′minutes
- 3Ruben Dias
- 24Guardiol
- 21Gomez
- 82Lewis
- 8KovacicSubstituted forManufacturerin the 75′minutes
- 52Bob
- 47FodenSubstituted forHamiltonin the 76′minutes
- 10GrealishSubstituted forDocin the 57′minutes
- 19AlvarezSubstituted forDe Bruynein the 57′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Walker
- 6Ake
- 11Doc
- 16Rhodri
- 17De Bruyne
- 27Nunes
- 31Anderson
- 56Manufacturer
- 92Hamilton
Huddersfield
Formation 5-4-1
- 1Nichols
- 17SpencerReservation at 90 minutes
- 32Sediment
- 5Helik
- 2Edmonds-Green
- 30Jackson
- 23WilesSubstituted forIorpedain the 88′minutes
- 8Rudoni
- 21EyeReservation at 13 minutesSubstituted forRadulovicin the 61′minutes
- 10KoromaSubstituted forDiarrain the 81′minutes
- 14Thomas
Substitutes
- 9Radulovic
- 11Diarra
- 16Edwards
- 27Hudlin
- 36Austerfield
- 37Agina
- 39Iorpeda
- 41Belagavi
- 42stone
- Referee:
- Michael Salisbury
Live text
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Full time, Manchester City 5, Huddersfield Town 0.
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End of second half, Manchester City 5, Huddersfield Town 0.
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Brody Spencer (Huddersfield Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Brodie Spencer (Huddersfield Town).
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Attempt blocked. Sergio Gomez (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Tom Iorpeda (Huddersfield Town).
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Foul by Oscar Bob (Manchester City).
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Tom Iorpeda (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Mateus Nunes (Manchester City).
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Brahima Diarra (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Change, Huddersfield Town. Tom Iorpeda replaces Ben Wiles.
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Offside, Huddersfield Town. Sorba Thomas is caught offside.
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Attempt saved. Bojan Radulovic (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner.
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Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Michal Helic.
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Change, Huddersfield Town. Brahima Diarra replaces Josh Koroma.
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Corner, Manchester City. Courtesy of Ben Jackson.
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Corner, Manchester City. Courtesy of Lee Nicholls.
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Attempt saved. Sergio Gomez (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the center of the goal.