Brentford exited the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage with a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at Etihad Stadium.

Rayan Cherki gave Pep Guardiola’s side the lead with a stunning strike in the first half, and Savinho added a second with a deflected effort after the break.

Head coach Keith Andrews made six changes to the side that started against Leeds United the previous Sunday.

Hákon Valdimarsson, Kristoffer Ajer, Rico Henry, Yehor Yarmoliuk, Mikkel Damsgaard and Kevin Schade came into the team.

Caoimhín Kelleher, Aaron Hickey and Keane Lewis-Potter were named among the substitutes, while Jordan Henderson, Dango Ouattara (AFCON) and Igor Thiago were not in the squad.

After an uneventful start, City had the first shot at goal. Cherki was teed up by Rico Lewis on the edge of the box and dragged wide of Valdimarsson’s left post.

As the rain bucketed down in Manchester, Oscar Bobb capitalised on a slip from Henry and advanced into the area. Closed down by Nathan Collins, the forward shifted the ball on to his left foot and drove straight at Valdimarsson.

At the other end, James Trafford pushed Mathias Jensen’s curling free-kick to safety after Schade had been brought down by Abdukodir Khusanov.

The away fans at the far end of the Etihad called for a red card as Khusanov seemed to have denied Schade a clear goal-scoring opportunity, but the defender escaped with a caution.

Cherki’s shot from 25 yards was parried by Valdimarsson, while Tijjani Reijnders’ volley flew over the crossbar, as City continued to probe.

Brentford fell behind on 32 minutes. Divine Mukasa’s corner was headed away by Schade only as far as the edge of the D, and Cherki reacted fastest, bringing the ball under control and bending an unstoppable shot into the far corner.

Brentford made a bright start to the second half. After a spell of possession in City’s half, Jensen played the ball to Ajer and the Norwegian’s powerful strike from 25 yards was parried by Trafford.

Moments later, Kayode skipped past Nico O'Reilly on his way into the area and tested Trafford with a low shot from a tight angle.

On 64 minutes, Valdimarsson dived to his left to deny Phil Foden after the forward had plucked the ball out of the air and taken aim for the bottom corner.

But there was nothing Brentford’s keeper could do to prevent City from doubling their advantage three minutes later.

The home side broke quickly following a Bees free-kick, and Reijnders released Savinho down the left. The winger drove inside and saw his shot loop over Valdimarsson and into the net via Ajer’s outstretched leg.

Manchester City: Trafford; Lewis, Khusanov, Aké, O'Reilly (Gvardiol 65); Nico (Nunes 66), Reijnders; Bobb (Foden 19, Gray 82), Cherki (Bernardo Silva 66), Savinho; Mukasa

Subs: Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Mfuni

Brentford: Valdimarsson; Kayode (Hickey 75), Ajer, Collins, van den Berg, Henry (Lewis-Potter 76); Janelt, Yarmoliuk (Konak 88), Jensen (Donovan 81); Damsgaard, Schade (Nunes 88)

Subs not used: Kelleher, Pinnock, Peart-Harris, Arthur

Andrews proud of courageous performance

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews gave his thoughts on the defeat to Manchester City.

"We played with a lot of courage," he said.

"I had to make some changes, with Dango going away and a couple of knocks to Thiago and Jordan.

"We had one day prep and one day training, we flipped the system - the players are so intelligent, so adaptable and versatile.

"I was very impressed in terms of how we played; we had to play with courage in how we tried to break them down and control the play.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't quite get that bit of quality in the final third, but I felt we were close on quite a few occasions.

"I'm disappointed, obviously, but I thought we defended brilliantly and I'm very proud of the boys."

Jensen: We lacked a bit of quality in the final third

Mathias Jensen rued Brentford’s lack of quality in the final third during the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

The midfielder made his 250th appearance for the Bees at Etihad Stadium.

“We gave it a go,” he said. “We tried to play with a lot of courage. I think we did quite well, actually. Their goals came from a set-piece and a transition from one of ours.

“I don’t think they had too many clear-cut chances. I think we did very well in the first phase or two but maybe lacked a bit of quality in the final third.”