Manchester City’s third win on the bounce was all the sweeter due to their victims having unbreakable Manchester United connections. Salford City, owned by the Class of 92, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Phil and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, were always primed to be easy fall guys and with 65 places between them and England’s champions, Karl Robinson’s men were cuffed aside as if in an exhibition.
The victory was decorated by a hat-trick from the Salford-born James McAtee and Jack Grealish’s first goal for more than a year, plus two from Jérémy Doku, the second a 69th-minute penalty after the Belgian’s shot was handled by Curtis Tilt. McAtee’s second featured a sharp finish, after receiving Phil Foden’s drilled delivery inside Salford’s area, while his third was a predator’s stab from Grealish’s cross.
