City's forgotten man Nunes takes Carabao Cup honours

If a midfielder has dominated the discourse surrounding Manchester City, it is not Matheus Nunes.

- RICHARD JOLLY

While they await bulletins on the state of Rodri’s knee, the Portuguese’s first City goal ranks as a subplot of their week. Rodri has an ubiquity but Nunes has become the £53m forgotten man, the sort of figure who may only be glimpsed in the starting 11 on Carabao Cup nights.

As he belatedly opened his City account, however, his goal proved decisive when a second-string side were given a late fright by Watford.

His reward may be a return to the relative obscurity of the bench. Nunes has only played 20 minutes in the Premier and Champions League so far this season. Ilkay Gundogan’s return has relegated him further down the pecking order, making him more of an afterthought.

If Kalvin Phillips is the most high-profile failure of City’s largely successful recruitment in recent years, Nunes is the quietly bad signing. Even Rodri’s probable long-term absence is unlikely to benefit him directly; the defensive-midfield berth scarcely suits him with Mateo Kovacic likelier to stand in for the Spaniard and the rookie Nico O’Reilly playing as the anchorman against Watford.