Jack Grealish scored his first Manchester City goal as Pep Guardiola’s men hammered a hapless Norwich City 5-0 in their firs t match back in front of a capacity crowd at the Etihad Stadium.
After losing to Tottenham Hotspur on opening day, question marks were raised over the ability of Manchester City to compete without completing the signing of Harry Kane, but the Cityzens strolled to a routine 5-0 win over their opponents, Norwich City. The home side went in front thanks to a moment of good fortune in the Norwich box. A ball across the face of the Norwich City goal was diverted goalwards by Norwich defender Grant Hanley before it took a touch off Tim Krul on its way into the goal in the 7th minute. Manchester City thought they had scored a second after 15 minutes when Ferran Torres rifled home a shot from just inside the box, but Bernardo Silva was adjudged to have committed a foul in the build-up to the goal. £100 million signing Jack Grealish added a second for Manchester City without knowing too much about it as another ball across the face of the Norwich goal went in off his leg in the 22nd minute. The Canaries struggled to get a foothold in the game as their more illustrious opponents played them out of the park until the end of the first half.
In the second half, Manchester City continued their onslaught before Aymeric Laporte added a third in the 64th minute, firing home from close range after a bit of pinball in the box following a corner. The Cityzens added a fourth shortly afterwards, Raheem Sterling tapping in at the far post after a brilliant ball from Kyle Walker split the Norwich defence, and Gabriel Jesus fired another ball across the six-yard box in the 71st minute. Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez capped off the scoring for Manchester City with a fine finish in the 84th minute after a brilliant pass from Ruben Dias caught the Norwich defence napping.
Daniel Farke’s Norwich City have now lost both of their opening fixtures in the league following their promotion, leaving them in familiar territory after just two games. Manchester City delivered a perfect performance and reaction after their opening day loss to get back to winning ways.
