Manchester City 9-0 Burton Albion: Pep Guardiola vows to take second leg 'seriously'
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Manchester City have scored 16 goals in two matches, with Gabriel Jesus getting five of them
Pep Guardiola said his Manchester City team would take the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg "seriously" after his side beat Burton 9-0.
Gabriel Jesus scored four times, with further goals from Kevin de Bruyne, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez.
The second leg, merely a formality, takes place on Wednesday, 23 January.
"The result was good and of course we are already in the final but we have to play the second leg," said Guardiola.
The win at Etihad Stadium was the largest winning margin in the semi-final of the competition, and the widest victory in the tournament in more than 32 years - since Liverpool beat Fulham 10-0 in a second-round first-leg tie in September 1986.
It was also the first time in more than 31 years City had scored nine goals in a single match - they beat Huddersfield Town 10-1 in a second-tier league encounter in November 1987, and it matched Guardiola's biggest win as a manager - equalling Barcelona's 9-0 thrashing of L'Hospitalet in the Copa del Rey in December 2011.
"It is not easy to play this type of game against a lower team," added Guardiola, whose side are set to face either Tottenham or Chelsea in February's final.
"We made good runs in behind and we took it seriously. After the second and third goal, it was easier, we were faster and quicker.
"We have to play the second leg. We will take it seriously."
The scoreboard at Etihad Stadium shows the score on a night to forget for Burton Albion
City, who beat Rotherham United 7-0 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday, were 4-0 ahead after 37 minutes, and scored another five goals in the second half.
"We spoke about that at half-time, to be simple, to play simple, to let them run and try to score more goals," added the Spaniard.
"It is the best way to respect the competition and to respect the opponent, because if you forget to continue, you don't have respect for your opponent or the competition. The best way is to do what you have to do for our future, and we have done."
Burton, ninth in League One, had beaten Shrewsbury, Aston Villa, Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough to reach their first major cup semi-final.
"We knew we could play the game of our lives tonight and still be on the end of a hammering," said Brewers boss Nigel Clough.
"We didn't play brilliantly and a couple of the goals we were disappointed with, as we should have defended them better, but the gulf in quality was very evident and the players came in at half-time and were wide-eyed with what they have played against.
"We expected that level of quality from the players they had out there.
"With the quality of the runs they make and the delivery of the ball, Premier League teams and the best in Europe can't stop them, so I don't know what little Burton Albion are going to do stop them."
Other hammerings in English football
Liverpool 10-0 Fulham (League Cup, September 1986): Kenny Dalglish's team went one better than Pep Guardiola's in the League Cup second round with Steve McMahon scoring four times. The Reds reached the final but lost to Arsenal.
Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town (Premier League, March 1995): Andrew Cole scored five goals as Sir Alex Ferguson's team recorded their biggest Premier League win but the title went to Blackburn Rovers.
Manchester United's 9-0 win over Ipswich Town in March 1995 remains the biggest victory in the Premier League era
Newcastle 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Premier League, September 1999): Alan Shearer found the net five times in a Premier League match as Wednesday were thrashed in Sir Bobby Robson's first home match as Newcastle manager.
Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City (Premier League, May 2008): Sven-Goran Eriksson's final game as City boss ended with a humbling by Middlesbrough as Afonso Alves scored a hat-trick in a Premier League rout at the Riverside.
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan Athletic (Premier League, November 2009): Jermain Defoe got his name on the list of players to score five times as Spurs recorded their biggest Premier League victory. Amazingly, the score was only 1-0 at half-time.