Manchester City went through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup last night, beating Watford 2-1.
City were largely very good against the Hornets, but allowed their level to drop in the closing stages which will disappoint Pep Guardiola.
Tom Ince pulled one back for the visitors, after Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes had scored in the first-half for City.
Watford then pushed for a late equaliser before being beaten by the clock.
City got over the line, but it was more frantic than it needed to be and the lack of a clean sheet again will be frustrating for Pep.
But there were many positives, with one being the performance of James McAtee.
Man City starlet James McAtee hailed after Carabao Cup win over Watford
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McAtee has had to be patient so far this season, after being promoted to the first-team squad for Pep after pre-season.
He had shone out in the US for the club’s pre-season, and he then caught the eye against Manchester United in the Community Shield.
In competitive games though so far this season McAtee has mostly been on the bench, getting one very brief cameo against Ipswich Town last month.
But he started last night against Watford, and put in a pretty good showing at the Etihad Stadium.
His performance left former City defender Kit Symons impressed, as he said (via mancity.com): “His overall game was very good.
“That desire when he did lose the ball to get back in and that’s brilliant. That’s what you see from all the wide players who play for City as well and the players in that number 10 position.
“The work rate and the effort to get back in and defend for the team is excellent.”
A good night for McAtee, he must get more minutes
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There were some loose touches at times last night from McAtee but overall he gave a strong performance and as Symons says, his work rate and effort to get the ball back was impressive.
It is so competitive at City, and McAtee will find himself on the bench a lot this season.
All the £15,000-a-week gem can do is take the opportunities that come his way, and hopefully for him, the minutes will start to increase.
He will have obviously seen the rise of Phil Foden at the club and more recently, Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis have gained more prominence in the first-team.
He is a serious talent, and fans will back him to become the next big young emerging talent at the Etihad.
