After 52 minutes, joy for Antoine Semenyo on his Manchester City debut. Rayan Cherki’s pirouette presaged him threading the ball in behind Exeter’s defence for the wideman to run in and beat Joe Whitworth to cap a memorable display. A little later Semenyo was replaced to an ovation and, from his seat in the stands, the suspended Pep Guardiola, in a flat cap and winter coat, approved, too.
Tijjani Reijnders’ curled finish, Nico O’Reilly’s flicked header, an 18-yard shot by another debutant, Ryan McAidoo, and Rico Lewis’s second completed City’s goal-plunder, while the substitute George Birch, 19, smashed home a memorable first Exeter goal for their consolation.
Pep Lijnders, who replaced Guardiola on the touchline, said: “Antoine is settling well, he’s a humble guy. He brings something to the front line, what we really need. He can attack quickly, wants to chase, he’s a guy who doesn’t stop. You see today that he can adapt quite quickly to our style.”
City are at Newcastle for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. “We want to reach the finals this year,” said Lijnders. “We play the semi-final for the League Cup. We go a round further in the FA Cup and are in the Champions League in a good position.”
