At the end Pep Guardiola shook the hand of every Burton Albion player and lingered longest to speak to goalkeeper Bradley Collins. What did he say? What could he say? Nine nil. It was a brutal demolition; a goal-lust. It was unforgiving, unrelenting and Manchester City are in the final of the Carabao Cup.
The second leg is an awkward formality, a glorified friendly, a fixture to fulfil and hopefully a big payday for League One Burton. They have earned it because this was hard going, as City celebrated every goal, even strove to reach double figures and would have done so but for a couple of fine saves by Collins and the failure to award them a clear penalty in the first half for a foul on Gabriel Jesus.
βI wanted to congratulate them for the incredible tournament,β Guardiola said. βThey beat βmythicβ [historic] teams like Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. They deserve incredible credit. We are not a team at Manchester City that has a lot of titles in the museum, so if you have a chance to get to a final you have to take it. We are hungry. We respect the opponent.β
Respect and destroy. βThey donβt beat you; they annihilate you,β said Nigel Clough, the Burton manager. βIn terms of the gulf between the two teams itβs just far too much for us to comprehend and make up. Halfway down League One we had no chance.β
As for Collins, a 21-year-old former youth-team player at Chelsea, Clough added: βI actually think our goalkeeper made a couple of good saves. Weβve been beaten nine and heβs not cost us a goal.β Scarily, he was right.
The margin of victory is the biggest ever achieved in a semi-final of a cup competition in England and the same margin as the record score achieved by City (10-1 against Huddersfield in 1987 and against Swindon in 1930). The romance of the cup? City doused that.Β
They went on a rampage to destroy, dismantle and decimate. They were 8-0 up with 20 minutes to go and desperately sought to get their 10th goal in the dying minutes, pinning Burton back. Should they have shown mercy? No, it was not as if they were humiliating their opponents with unnecessary step-overs and tricks. This was about Βgoing to the end, so that Guardiola could declare βwe are in the finalβ and strike out the second leg as a formality in which he can field as many kids as he can find.
Maybe even Phil Foden will get a start. He did not here β with Guardiola reasoning Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva need βminutesβ β but did in last Sundayβs FA Cup win over Rotherham United. That 7-0 victory means City have scored 16 goals without reply in two successive home ties. Nine nil also equals the biggest win of Guardiolaβs managerial career (Barcelona beat LβHospitalet by the same score in the Copa del Rey in 2011).
Jesus scored four β for the first time in his career β but it was De Bruyne who struck first after five minutes, when he ghosted in to meet Silvaβs cross and guide his header into the net.
Maybe that was the one goal ΒBurton could have defended better but, remarkably, they should have drawn level, when Lucas Akinsβs low cross ran all the way to Marcus Myers-Harness. He had time and space, but somehow side-footed high and wide. He had to score. Burton are 51 league places below City β with a team assembled for around Β£1βmillion β but that does not begin to do justice to the gulf.Β
βQuite a few of the players were wide-eyed at half-time,β Clough admitted. βThey had seen it on television, but they could not believe it first-hand. They said some of their lads did not even seem to be Βrunning, but were gliding around the pitch.β
They had glided to a 4-0 lead by that half-time break. Leroy Sane worked his way in from the right before exchanging passes with Ilkay Gundogan. Collins blocked Saneβs toe-poked shot with a leg, but the ball rebounded up for Jesus to head home.Β
Soon after Gundogan chipped the ball through to Silva, who squared it for Jesus to take his time and stroke a low shot in off a post. Then Oleksandr Zinchenko overhit a left-wing cross, but it deceived Collins and flew high into the net for the defenderβs first goal for City.
That felt cruel and, into the second half, it became even crueller. Silva slid a return pass through to Riyad Mahrez, who stood up a cross that Jesus, having pulled away, headed powerfully past Collins.
It triggered the first change by Guardiola, with Foden replacing De Bruyne and he soon had his goal, too. It should have been a fourth for Jesus, but Collins blocked his shot, with the rebound also foiled, only for it to fall to Foden, who stroked it into the empty net.
Jesus did score once more. Sane chested down a raking cross-field pass and centred with the outside of his boot for the striker to steal in and flick past Collins.Β
Clough buried his head in his coat and did so again as Mahrez squared the ball for Kyle Walker to beat Collins with a first-time, side-footed shot. Mahrez had his goal, also, as he met a cross by substitute Bernardo Silva, only to miscue, but then poke the rebound home.Β
βWe want 10,β chanted the City fans and their team attempted to oblige. Thankfully Burton held out.
βWe had several thousand Βsupporters here celebrating the fact that we will probably never be here again,β Clough said. Despite the scoreline, they can hold their heads high.
Match details
Manchester City (4-3-3):Β Muric;Β Walker (Danilo, 74), Otamendi, Garcia,Β Zinchenko;Β De Bruyne (Foden, 58), Gundogan,Β D Silva;Β Mahrez,Β Jesus,Β Sane (B Silva, 66).
Substitutes not used: Ederson (gk), Stones, Sterling, Delph.
Burton Albion (4-1-4-1):Β Collins;Β Brayford,Β Buxton,Β Turner,Β Hutchinson;Β Wallace;Β Myers-Harness,Β Allen (Fox, 68),Β Fraser (Sbarra, 79),Β Akins;Β Boyce (Templeton, 68).
Substitutes not used: Bywater (gk), McFadzean, McCrory, Miller.
Referee: Mike Dean.
Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β