Two-time champions Manchester City approached yet another Carabao Cup final by beating local rivals Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford Stadium on Tuesday. The game was the 1st leg of the semifinals. With the result, the Spanish coach Pep Guardiola’s team may even lose by a goal at home at the Etihad Stadium on January 29 that they will still go through another Final at the Wembley Stadium in London.

The other semifinal will have their first match on Wednesday with Aston Villa, who eliminated Liverpool in the previous round, against Leicester City. The second leg is scheduled for the 28th. The decision at London’s Wembley Stadium will be on March 1.

The start of the game was balanced and Manchester United, pushed by almost 70,000 fans, were even more present on the attacking field, but that enthusiasm ended at 17 minutes. The Portuguese Bernardo Silva, in a brilliant individual move, got the ball down the right flank, cut inside to the middle, adjusted his body, and with a lot of space, dropped a missile straight at David De Gea’s top corner. What a beautiful move from the Portuguese Silva! 0-1 Man City.

From there on, Manchester City dominated the game, showing solidness in defense and effectiveness in counterattacks.

It was exactly like that that the 2nd goal was born. Man City robbed the ball in the defense, armed a counter through Bernardo, who set Mahrez, as the Algerian dribbled past United’s De Gea and scored from close-range. 0-2 Man City.

Stunned, Manchester United suffered a new counterattack on 39 minutes. Belgian Kevin De Bruyne was the architect as he got the ball, got inside the box, ended Phil Jones’ career with a nasty dribble, and finished for a beautiful save from De Gea. However, the rebound hit exactly Andreas Pereira’s leg, pushing the ball to the bottom of the nets. 0-3 Man City.

In the second half, Manchester City returned at a slower pace. Manchester United, although discouraged and uninspired, managed to start a reaction through Marcus Rashford on 70 minutes. But the reaction was not continued and the chances of the team led by Norwegian coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to reach the final are slim.