Football
Rob Dawson, Correspondent 4y

Guardiola lauds Delap, U.S. keeper Steffen in Man City's Carabao win

Pep Guardiola has suggested Liam Delap will get more chances after the 17-year-old striker marked his Manchester City debut with a goal.

- Carabao Cup on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)

Delap, son of former Stoke defender Rory, scored City's opener in the 2-1 win over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup third round on Thursday and with Sergio Aguero still absent because of a knee problem, Guardiola says he may get more opportunities this season.

"The problems we have up front, Liam will stay with us," said Guardiola. "He's a different striker than what we have in terms of his physicality. We see in the training sessions how good a finisher he is. He's still working but we are delighted for his performance. He played really well."

Delap, who was signed from Derby in 2019, only found out he was in the team on the morning of the game but took just 18 minutes to open his account with a superb finish after a through ball from Phil Foden, who went on to score the winner in the 75th minute.

"I was buzzing to get the call up and to top it with a goal, I can't ask much more," said Delap. "I just want to keep working hard in training and I'll take every chance I get.

"I'll probably be smiling for a couple of weeks."

As well as Delap, United States international goalkeeper Zack Steffen was also handed his City debut after spending a season on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf. Steffen had little to do as Bournemouth only managed one shot on target but he still did enough to impress his manager.

"He made one good action from a counter-attack and he was calm and safe," said Guardiola. "He made a good performance."

Steffen, who spoke to ESPN on Wednesday about the need for more social justice action, took a knee before the match.

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