Man City 9-0 Burton Albion: Report, Ratings and Reaction as the Holders Thump Nigel Clough's Men

Gabriel Jesus hit four as Manchester City thrashed League One side Burton Albion in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi final. 

A Kevin De Bruyne header, a double from Jesus and a cross turned shot from Oleksandr Zinchenko gave the holders a commanding lead at the break. Burton played well in spells throughout the first 45, but City proved to be too much in the final third for the League One side.

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 The home side controlled the second half in similar fashion, and just before the hour mark Jesus rose highest to head home his hat trick, before scoring a fourth shortly after. Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez all got on the score sheet to round off an emphatic win.

The holders pushed for double figures at the end, but had to settle for just the nine goals to take into the second leg. 

Checkout our breakdown of the game below.

Manchester City 

Key Talking Point

It was clear from the beginning that the Man City midfield would control the game, and this proved to be the difference on the night. 

Silva, De Bruyne and Gündogan roamed freely in the middle the park and were able to continuously chip balls in behind the Burton defence. Sane and Mahrez bombarded the full backs with their pace and Jesus was a handful for the centre backs.

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Player Ratings 

Starting XI:  Muric (6), Walker (7), Otamendi (7), Garcia ( 6), Zinchenko (8),  De Bruyne (8), Gundogan (8), David Silva (9), Mahrez (8), Sane (8), Jesus (9*).

Substitutions: Foden (8), Bernardo Silva (7), Danilo (6)

Star Man 

There were a number of contenders for star man going by the first half performance alone. Silva  controlled the game but four goal hero Gabriel Jesus was peerless in the final third tonight. The Brazilian was a nuisance for the Burton defence and got himself into great areas for a couple of close range tap ins.

That was Jesus' second hat trick of the season; he now has 12 goals in all competitions during this campaign.

Worst Player - Eric Garcia

It's difficult to pick a worst player in a 9-0 win. Although young Eric Garcia did not put a foot wrong, he was rarely involved in the action and you could be excused if you forgot the youngster was on the park. 

Looking Ahead

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Man City will hope to continue their terrific form and close the gap on league leaders Liverpool when Wolves visit the Etihad on Monday. For Burton, it's back to league business as the host Gillingham as they look to climb up the League One table.