A much-changed Liverpool side beat Norwich City 3-0 in the EFL Cup third rounds, whereas Manchester City smashed Wycombe Wanderers 6-1 after falling behind early on.
Jurgen Klopp’s men took the lead in the fourth minute through Takumi Minamino. His sharp turn and shot following a set-piece took goalkeeper Angus Gunn by surprise.
Norwich weren’t dispirited despite falling behind but fashioned out several decent chances for themselves. The reward for the Canaries’ persistent attacking approach was a spot-kick, earned by Dimitris Giannoulis, who was bundled over by youngster Conor Bradley.
Christos Tzolis saw his effort saved by Caoimhin Kelleher, and the loose ball was cleared by the Liverpool defence.
Divock Origi doubled Liverpool’s lead five minutes past the restart. The Belgian attacker flicked a Kostas Tsimikas cross into the back of the net to put the game beyond Norwich’s reach. Minamino added his second in the 80th minute, squeezing the ball over the line between bodies and from a tight angle.
Elsewhere, League One side Wycombe took a shock early lead against incumbent Premier League champions Manchester City. The Citizens made wholesale changes for the midweek cup tie, including a backline made up of academy players entirely. However, Josep Guardiola decided to stick with first-team players for his attack, and those were the players who eventually smashed six past the lowly Wycombe.
Kevin De Bruyne scored City’s first – and equalizing – goal in the 29th minute, after collecting the ball from Phil Foden and calmly slotting it past the goalkeeper. Foden himself got in on the act in first-half stoppage time but not before Riyad Mahrez had doubled City’s lead.
Ferran Torres put the Citizens 4-1 up in the 71st minute from a Foden cross before Mahrez grabbed his second of the night. Substitute Cole Palmer put City 6-1 up in the 88th minute through a long-range strike which took a big deflection on its way into the net.
