Five Things Learned: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Manchester City (Carabao Cup Third Round) | OneFootball

Manchester City emerged victorious at the Accu Stadium on Wednesday night after a professional 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town sealed their place in the Carabao Cup fourth round.

The Sky Blues arrived in Yorkshire off the back of a valiant and hard-fought draw away in north London after conceding a painful injury-time equaliser to Gabriel Martinelli. City looked to pick themselves up and get back to winning ways in the Carabao Cup in the hopes of fighting on all four fronts come the summer of 2026.

Unsurprisingly, the visitors were allowed to have the vast majority of the ball throughout the game, with Huddersfield content with trying to starve their opponents of space as they operated in a resolute low block.

However, in the 18th minute there was nothing the Terriers could do to combat a simply sublime strike from Phil Foden after an intricate one-two between the 25-year-old and Manchester City academy graduate and debutant Divine Mukasa enabled the former to unleash a rocket from distance that found the bottom corner with pinpoint accuracy, leaving Lee Nicholls powerless and giving City the lead coming into the break.

In the second period, Pep Guardiola’s side once again struggled to break through the organised Huddersfield back line, seeing most of the efforts blocked or cleared away with little to no difficulty.

Eventually, however, the hosts tired of the gruelling defensive work, and the game opened up late on. This allowed Phil Foden to thread through Savinho on the left flank, giving the Brazilian licence to crash home a powerful near-post effort which crashed in off the bar, doubling his side’s lead in the 74th minute.

With just over 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Manchester City were happy to keep possession and see the game out. Lee Grant’s side tried to get back into the game late on as a curling effort from Ashia struck the woodwork, keeping the visitors’ clean sheet intact and eventually allowing them safe passage into the fourth round come the final whistle.

Here are five things we learnt from that comfortable 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town!

1. Phil Foden is back to his BEST!

Everything positive went through Phil Foden on Thursday night as he yet again looked hungry for the ball and eager to create for his side – and create he did – not only with his superb goal but also with his excellent assist for Savinho, along with his general link-up play and work on and off the ball, which was phenomenal with 83 touches throughout the match with nine passes into the final third. Foden certainly took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Since his first start of the season in the Manchester derby a few weeks ago, City’s number 47 has certainly come into his own and looks to be flourishing and enjoying his football yet again. With four goal contributions in his last four games, the Stockport Iniesta looks to be finding his form again and that will be no doubt a formidable weapon for the Blues.

With this upturn in form from one of Pep Guadiola’s best players, we can only hope this purple patch continues for the Englishman to fuel Manchester City in all competitions – and if Foden can rise to the levels of his PFA Players’ Player of the Year winning campaign a few seasons ago, it is without a doubt that will be immensely important both in a game-by-game context and in regard to challenging for silverware in the latter months of the campaign.

2. The CFA shines and a divine performance from Mukasa

Starting off with Manchester City’s new rising star within the first team, Divine Mukasa. On his senior competitive debut, the number 63 was phenomenal and truly looked like he belonged in the first team. At the age of just 18, the Englishman thrived, not only registering an assist but also having a huge hand in the second goal as well. His overall play looked as if he had been playing with this group of players for months; no nerves were on show as the academy graduate showcased amazing technical ability on the ball and always looked to be positive when receiving it.

From the glimpses we have seen so far from Mukasa, it is clear that there is immense potential for him to develop into a great player for the future – but it is essential, however, that this talent is nurtured and he is given fair minutes in the first team to develop when seen fit – so as to be careful of repeating the mistake of selling a certain young talent known as Cole Palmer to Chelsea after not being able to guarantee him minutes, and we all know the player he is now.

Wednesday night was also an incredibly proud moment for the City Football Academy, as an impressive 10 players who came up through the youth system featured in the travelling squad as the Blues ventured to Huddersfield, with six of the players being included from the start and two other promising talents, the Heskey brothers, making an appearance from the bench. City fans, rest assured, the future is in safe hands!

3. Savinho – Patience is a virtue

In recent times, Savinho has received heavy criticism, perhaps off the back of a lot of transfer speculation regarding a potential big-money move to Tottenham Hotspur, which didn’t go through due to City’s reluctance to sell the winger, especially to direct competition. Regardless of rumours, though, he is still a City player and deserves to be treated as such.

The Brazilian struggled at times at the Accu Stadium, with a lot of his attempts to create proving futile and his crosses very rarely proving to be particularly threatening to the Terriers’ defence. The effort was there, but especially in the early stages, it was to no avail. In the end though, the former Girona man did have his say on proceedings, sealing victory for his side with a venomous finish which crashed in off the frame of the goal. Savinho eventually made the most of his first start of the season.

Understandably, the lack of numbers for the youngster raises question marks amongst the fans and the media, as people want to see more output from a man who adorns the number of a legendary winger in Riyad Mahrez, but it must be remembered that Savinho is only 21 years of age and has many promising years ahead of him. He’s a raw and promising talent; give him time to develop, and then make your assessment.

4. Possession football is back

After an approach that quite simply shocked the footballing world last week at the Emirates Stadium, where Pep Guardiola operated in perhaps the most defensive system we’ve seen in his coaching career as he looked to “smash and grab a result and make it difficult for his side to be broken down”.

This raised questions on if the passing philosophy that has been the embodiment of Manchester City during Guardiola’s tenure was on the way out after adopting a more transition-based approach in recent weeks. However, the Blues head coach rebutted this statement, saying he is still keen on his possession ideology.

This was evident against Huddersfield, as the visitors had a dominant 75% possession, completing 791 passes with a 94% pass accuracy, starving their opposition of the ball. I think it’s safe to say the Pep way won’t change too drastically for now; his love for his teams having the ball will stop that.

5. A routine victory, onto the next round

Granted, it wasn’t the most enthralling or exciting fixture ever. But it was most certainly a great performance and an important win to progress Manchester City into the next round, as they face Swansea City away in October.

A win in midweek whilst resting the vast majority of the Blues’ first team and getting some of the most promising CFA youngsters invaluable minutes in the senior squad– what more could you ask for?

Now it’s time to return to league action at the weekend and build on this win as we face off against Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after a simple and professional victory in the Carabao Cup!