Manchester City advanced to the Carabao Cup semifinal after defeating Brentford 2-0 at Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens started the game with a lot of ‘new’ faces compared to their usual Premier League starters.
Rico Lewis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nathan Ake, Oscar Bobb and Savinho had last started a match all against Bayer Leverkusen. Divine Mukasa did it for just the third time in his career – all of them in the Carabao Cup.
Keith Andrews also made a few changes himself, but saw most of his starters be completely outmatched.
How did an alternate Manchester City team take Brentford out of the game?
Wide overloads
Pep Guardiola has shifted his style a lot this season, trying out new things quite often. One of them has been the concept of crowding, mostly in the centre of the pitch. But he also carries this idea out to the wings as well.
There were plenty of overloads down the middle in the first phase of build-up, but the Spaniard tactician took them to the sides to avoid Brentford’s towering three centre-backs.
As a result, City always had a lot of options and passing lanes to play in tight spaces. It did also lead to a lack of presence in and around the box. But that’s why you count on the skill and technique of your high-profile players like Rayan Cherki, capable of scoring a screamer out of nowhere. And also a bit of luck in Savinho’s goal.
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And this happened mostly on the right in the first half, but then balanced out in the second half when they used the left side more. Guardiola acknowledged there would be little room to operate in the middle and went straight to the wings.
The wide overloads also helped to generate doubt in the Bees’ defensive system. They maintained the back-five and didn’t drag defenders out of position.
This meant that, to counter the overloads, Andrews had to force his supposed second striker Mikkel Damsgaard to track back much more than he would have liked as a fourth midfielder, alongside Yehor Yarmolyuk, Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen.
It also left Kevin Schade completely isolated as their only attacking weapon, which not only is not enough but also didn’t really work. Which brings us to the next segment.
Offside traps
Brentford were caught offside an incredible seven times at Etihad Stadium. This is their second most in a game all season across all competitions (8 vs Aston Villa also in the League Cup).
It was also the most that Man City provoked in a single match in 2025-26 alongside their 3-0 win over Liverpool in the Premier League.
Kevin Schade himself was responsible for over half of these offsides (4/7). Pep Guardiola managed to isolate him completely and make him the only way Brentford could get near James Trafford. From there, they “just” had to control his runs to limit his impact.
Rayan Cherki as false nine
Rayan Cherki started the game as one of the two centre-midfielders in front of Nico Gonzalez, more to the right with Tijjani Reijnders to his left.
But he then started drifting out wide into the right wing, working closely with Bobb, Lewis and Mukasa. A few minutes later, Guardiola turned him into a full-time false nine, with Mukasa on the right wing and Phil Foden, who replaced Bobb, inside.
Cherki had full freedom to roam around in the pitch and he sure seems to have enjoyed it. He looked full of confidence, attempting trick-passes, backheels and pulling of a screamer to open the scoring.
This experiment could pay off if Man City ever play with their main team without Erling Haaland. If Cherki roams around but with a more incisive winger to perform diagonal runs in behind or into the box, it could be a deadly combination. Though it does take its toll on their high press.
Despite both of their goals not being a ‘sustainable’ source of attacking production long term, Manchester City earned their spot in the Carabao Cup semifinal. Brentford looked helpless for at least 70 of the 90 minutes, taking just three shots in the whole match.