Pep Guardiola pulled his baggy black beanie from his head in relief at the final whistle at the Kassam Stadium. Against a spirited Oxford United, his Manchester City side had survived a late onslaught and what had, momentarily, threatened to be an upset to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals for a third successive season. If it was not for the clinical finishing of Raheem Sterling, as well as some woeful defending from the Sky Bet League One side, it could have been the kind of night that left Guardiola scratching his head with worry. That looked likely when Oxford’s lively striker Matty Taylor cancelled out João Cancelo’s first-half goal only 21 seconds into the second half. But Sterling struck his 17th and 18th goals of…

Source: The Times December 19, 2019 00:04 UTC