Playing just two days after a feisty Premier League match against Arsenal, Manchester City fielded a heavily rotated team and still had too much for second-tier Watford in the English League Cup.
City won 2-1 thanks to first-half goals by Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes at Etihad Stadium as the third round continued Tuesday with fellow top-flight teams Chelsea, Aston Villa and Leicester also advancing.
Chelsea thrashed fourth-division Barrow 5-0, with Christopher Nkunku scoring a hat trick and celebrating by inflating a blue balloon and holding it between his lips. Villa won 2-1 at third-tier Wycombe and Leicester triumphed 3-0 in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw at fourth-tier Walsall.
The last 32 of the competition is being spread over two midweeks to accommodate the expanded Champions League and Europa League. Manchester United and Tottenham were among those to advance last week, while Liverpool and Arsenal play their games on Wednesday.
City manager Pep Guardiola won the League Cup four straight years with City from 2018, but said he isn’t going to take it seriously this season and will use the matches to give rhythm to some fringe players.
“We are not going to waste energy on this competition, for sure,” he said.
Doku was one of just two Man City players — along with Kyle Walker — to start both the dramatic 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday and against Watford. The Belgium winger put his team ahead in the fifth minute by shooting home from just inside the area after City seized on a misplaced back-pass.
Nunes added the second in 38th with a low, left-footed shot for the Portugal midfielder’s first goal since joining from Wolverhampton in the offseason on 2023.
Tom Ince — the son of former England midfielder Paul Ince — scored for Watford in the 86th.
Chelsea also rotated its lineup, making 11 changes from the team that started the 3-0 win at West Ham on Saturday.
Nkunku scored the opening two goals by the 15th minute and rounded off the scoring in the 75th. In between was an own-goal and a tap-in by Pedro Neto for his first goal for Chelsea.
Colombia forward Jhon Durán continued his brilliant start to the season for Villa by scoring the team’s second goal — from the penalty spot in the 85th — to add to Emi Buendia’s opener in the 55th.
The 20-year-old Durán has netted four times in five league matches so far this season, all off the bench.
Wycombe’s consolation came in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Walsall was unable to complete an upset over Leicester after taking its Premier League opponent to spot kicks at home.
Leicester converted all three of its penalties, while Walsall failed with its first three attempts to bring the shootout to its earliest possible conclusion.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
