13 December 2023 , 21:04
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It may have been a dead rubber, but for Manchester City youngsters Micah Hamilton and Oscar Bobb, it was a night they will never forget.
Hamilton, 20, was handed his City debut by boss Pep Guardiola and capped that proud moment with a stunning goal to underline his huge potential. Norway starlet Bobb, also 20, scored his first goal for City as well, as the two starlets took their chance to shine in the absence of City's established names.
Hamilton, at City from the age of nine and described as a “street footballer” by his coaches, had made the bench twice this season. But he had to wait patiently for his first-team debut, ensuring that when it came, he seized his chance to prove Guardiola was right to give him the nod.
Back in 2017, a 13-year-old Hamilton was a ball-boy at the Etihad in a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace and was given a pep talk by Guardiola over the importance of getting the ball back quickly to the home side.
Six years on and Hamilton is still listening intently to Guardiola, whose faith he repaid with a stunning first-half strike into the roof of the net. The fearlessness and ebullience of youth was encapsulated in the unstoppable shot, with fellow youngsters Bobb and Rico Lewis first to celebrate with him.
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With City already confirmed as group winners, Guardiola took the opportunity to shuffle his personnel, making nine changes from the side that came from behind to beat Luton 2-1 last Sunday. Along with Hamilton, three other academy players were included in the match-day squad, goalkeeper True Grant, defender Max Alleyne and midfielder Mahamadou Susoho, introduced late on.
City's unfamiliar line-up was balanced with the experience of seasoned pros including captain for the night John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Manuel Akanji, Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish.
Micah Hamilton fired home on his City debut (DeFodi Images via Getty Images)The game burst into life with Hamilton's stunning opener after 19 minutes. Grealish played the ball through to Matheus Nunes, who funnelled it out first-time to Hamilton. His only thought was to attack, wrong-footing Aleksandar Dragovic with a quick shift to the right, before launching the ball into the roof of the net.
Hamilton was involved again as City came close to making it 2-0 a minute before the break, his superbly-timed cross from the right just eluding Bobb. But Bobb made up for that miss with his goal in the 62nd minute, with the hosts pulling one back 15 minutes from time through In-Beom Hwang.
Hamilton won an 84th-minute penalty, which was dispatched clinically by Phillips, another with a first goal for City. There was time for sub Aleksandar Katai to score with a header in added time, but holders City held on to make it maximum points in the group stage.