MANCHESTER CITY 5-0 NORWICH CITY
Samba 29’, 54’, Cherki 32’, Allan 48’, McAidoo 90’
By SCM Sports Desk I Friday, Sept 18.2026
ENZO MARESCA rested his heavy-artillery main man Erling Haaland, but Manchester City’s glittering collection of emerging superstars proved they possess more than enough firepower to blow away the Championship.
In a terrifying display of depth, City tore Norwich City to shreds in a 5-0 EFL Cup third-round demolition job at the Etihad Stadium. The headline act belonged to 17-year-old debutant sensation Floyd Samba, who put on a goalscoring clinic on his senior debut, while French playmaker Rayan Cherki and Brazilian winger Allan sparkled to send City cruising into the fourth round.
With ten changes made from the side that beat Manchester United, eyes were on City’s secondary stars to deliver. They did not just deliver—they delivered a thrashing.
The floodgates opened on 29 minutes when summer signing Allan floated a precise, looped cross into the heart of the box. Up rose teenage star Floyd Samba to plant a firm header beyond former City academy keeper Daniel Grimshaw to open his account in style.
Just three minutes later, French star Rayan Cherki—the only player kept in the starting lineup from Sunday’s derby—showed pure, cold-blooded quality. Released cleanly by midfield engine Ayyoub Bouaddi, Cherki glided one-on-one into the penalty area before slotting a calm finish inside Grimshaw’s near post.
Norwich offered almost nothing in return, completely smothered by City’s suffocating possession game. Any faint hopes of a Canaries fightback were instantly extinguished three minutes after the restart. Allan got in on the goalscoring action himself, latching onto a loose ball and drilling a low, left-footed effort into the corner for his debut strike.
Six minutes later, Samba produced the moment of the match. Picking up the ball at the edge of the penalty box, the teenager cut inside and curled an exquisite, dipping effort into the far right top corner. It was a stroke of genius that had the Etihad crowd roaring his name.
City capped off the evening in the 90th minute when 18-year-old substitute Ryan McAidoo slid home a fifth, rubber-stamping an absolute rout.
The match numbers underlined complete, uncompromising dominance. Manchester City controlled sixty-five percent of the ball, dictating every phase of play.
Maresca’s side fired fourteen total shots with six hitting the target, compared to Norwich’s meager four attempts—none of which tested City goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli. City hit thirty touches inside the opponent’s box to Norwich’s four and generated four big chances, ruthless in their execution.
Norwich were starved of territory,
completing just three hundred and fourteen passes out of three hundred and eighty-five attempts, whereas City’s metronomic passing unit completed seven hundred and eight passes with a ninety-three percent accuracy rate.
The defending champions move seamlessly into the fourth round where a home clash against Brighton awaits, leaving the rest of English football with a chilling message: even City’s kids play like world-beaters.