Is the Manchester city steamroller getting back into full swing? Pep Guardiola told his charges last season “You have to fight for everything, every year” and that must have been the message as Pep introduced several changes to the side that beat Liverpool on Thursday.
With Aguero and David Silva given the day off and Sane and Bernardo having a day on the bench alongside Fernandinho, Danilo and Laporte, it was a day for Gundogan, Mahrez, Foden de Bruyne, de Jesus and Walker to project themselves.
You can only play what’s in front of you and except for the first half-hour and only then because de Jesus missed a hatful of chances, Rotherham United, arriving with 6000 fans across 2 levels of the South Stand, simply could not stem the blue tide determined to put this tie to bed.