Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were the heroes for Manchester City as the Carabao Cup champions began the defence of their trophy in commanding fashion following a 3-0 defeat of Preston on Tuesday night.
Preston had genuine hopes of causing an upset, having advanced to the next phase when facing Premier League opposition in two of their last three such meetings in the EFL Cup, eliminating Watford in 2015-16 and Bournemouth in 2016-17.
But that was to be a tale for another time, as the reigning champions led 3-0 at the break, after goals from Sterling, Jesus and an unfortunate own goal by Ledson late into the half.
Preston started the game well, pressing the City defence with gusto but City showed their quality as the half wore on.
Barely 20 minutes in, and the home side were undone by a terrific individual goal from Raheem Sterling. The England international dribbled past a number of Preston players, before sliding the ball into the back of the net.
RAHEEEEEEEEMMMMMM!!
One-up thanks to @sterling7's deflected effort that leaves Ripley stranded!
⚪️ 0-1 🔵 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/ru1lSnZL0V
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 24, 2019
The former Liverpool forward then turned provider for goal number two, setting up Jesus, ten minutes to half time.
GOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!@gabrieljesus33 drives into the bottom corner! Get in there!
⚪️ 0-2 🔵 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/mcvPX72kBx
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 24, 2019
A couple of minutes before the break, it became worse for Preston as David Silva’s low cross was turned into the back of his own net by Ledson.
The hosts were not without their chances in the second, however. Few minutes after Garcia missed a glorious chance, Preston went close to kicking off an unlikely comeback as Harrop struck the woodwork. The striker did well to hold off the challenge of Garcia and fire a shot towards the bottom right-hand corner, the ball beat Bravo but cannoned off the post.
The Citizens should have scored a fourth goal from the plethora of chances they created in the second 45 minutes but Pep Guardiola’s men had done enough in the first half to cruise to victory at the Deepdale.