Manchester City winger Allan Elias expressed his delight after delivering a goal and an assist in his side's emphatic 5-0 Carabao Cup win over Norwich City on Thursday.
Allan Elias starred as Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the season against Norwich City.
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The Brazilian prospect caught the eyes of Enzo Maresca and Hugo Viana this summer before the club had an official bid accepted by Palmeiras for £34 million.
To mitigate the impact of several departures in attack over the summer, including Tottenham’s double-sweep of Omar Marmoush and Savinho, Allan arrived at the Etihad Stadium motivated but aware that chances to impress in the first-team would be hard to come by.
And while he started the third round of the Carabao Cup losing possession and struggling to gain confidence with the ball at his feet, he turned his City debut around by recording a goal and assist inside 20 minutes of dominant football from the home team.
It Was Incredible to Experience, Says Allan After a Dazzling Man City Debut
For what was an underwhelming start to the game, where obvious flaws were met in a line-up that had never played with one another, the game ultimately ended how many would have expected it to.
Allan, making his first appearance under Maresca since joining City in August, played a large part in the first goal of the night when he returned a cross into the box for Floyd Samba to pounce on, the 17-year-old heading into the far corner of the net for a goal on his debut too.
Manchester City started their defence of the Carabao Cup with a romping 5-0 victory over Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
cityxtra.co.uk Five Things Learned: Man City 5-0 Norwich City (Carabao Cup Third Round) Manchester City started their defence of the Carabao Cup with a romping 5-0 victory over Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
Then, just three minutes after the second half kicked off, Allan added a third to City’s controlling scoreline when he wrapped his foot around the ball, a low shot flashing across the face of goal to cap off a quintessential debut performance for the Brazilian.
On Instagram after the game, Allan wrote: “So happy to make my debut in this shirt! It was incredible to experience this special night alongside all Cityzens. May this be the beginning of a great journey!”
Remarkable Performances Across the Board for a Much-Changed Yet Dominant Man City Side
Maresca made 10 changes to the side that beat Manchester United on the weekend, including the introduction of academy trio Samba, Kaden Braithwaite and Ryan McAidoo.
A fairly experienced midfield involving Rayan Cherki and Mateo Kovacic was embedded into the side to perhaps help suppress the aggression and early pressure that came from Norwich.
Though by the hour, it was those from the City Football Academy that looked like they had been playing senior football for years, particularly Samba, who secured his brace by the 54th minute.
Running away with the game and up by four goals, Norwich were starting to give up when McAidoo - having replaced Cherki at half-time - scored after 90 minutes to make it 5-0 to the home side.