City moved through to the fifth round of this season’s FA Cup thanks to a 2-0 victory over League Two Salford City at the Etihad Stadium.
An Alfie Dorrington own goal gave City an early lead and it looked as though a comfortable afternoon lay ahead.
But a somewhat disjointed performance saw City struggle to kill the game off, until Marc Guéhi’s late strike sealed an unconvincing win for the Blues.
The result means City are a step closer to a fourth-consecutive FA Cup final appearance and remain in the hunt for four major trophies this season.
THE GAME IN 250 WORDS
City started the game brightly and deservedly got an early breakthrough when Rayan Ait-Nouri’s attempted cross from the left deflected off Salford defender Alfie Dorrington and past ‘keeper Matthew Young.
Omar Marmoush’s powerful volley into the top corner was wrongly ruled out for offside. Replays showed he was played onside but with no VAR to overrule the on-field decision, the Egyptian was denied what would have been a memorable strike.
City were dominating possession, but with nine changes to the starting lineup, we lacked our usual fluency and intensity and towards the end of the first half, Salford had chances to equalise.
Firstly, Ben Woodburn’s half-volley was tipped over the bar by James Trafford moments before half-time - a fantastic save that further underlines his credentials as a top-class goalkeeper.
And seconds before the break, Brandon Cooper perhaps should have equalised after poor marking from a corner saw the Salford centre-back free at the backpost, but he placed his header wide of the post.
City’s performance remained somewhat flat after the beak and Trafford made another good save, this time denying Kelly N’Mai.
With City in need of some inspiration, Pep Guardiola made a trio of substitutions on 65 minutes – bringing on Marc Guéhi, Antoine Semenyo and Nico O’Reilly - which injected some vibrancy into our performance.
City suddenly looked brighter and sharper, and with nine minutes left, our lead was doubled when Guéhi tapped home on the rebound after Young had palmed away Rayan Cherki’s driven cross.
Antoine Semenyo almost made it 3-0 late on but he saw his shot hit the inside of the post and come back out.
It wasn’t a vintage City performance, but we are safely into Monday’s fifth round draw.
With City in need of some inspiration, Pep Guardiola made a trio of substitutions on 65 minutes – bringing on Marc Guéhi, Antoine Semenyo and Nico O’Reilly - which had a positive impact.
City suddenly looked more vibrant, and with nine minutes left, our lead was doubled when Guéhi tapped home on the rebound after Young had palmed away Rayan Cherki’s driven cross.
Antoine Semenyo almost made it 3-0 but he saw his shot hit the inside of the post and come back out.
It wasn’t a vintage City performance, but we are safely into Monday’s fifth round draw.
TEAMS
CITY XI: Trafford, Khusanov, Stones (C) (Guéhi 65’), Alleyne (McAidoo 22’), Ait-Nouri (O’Reilly 65’), Nico (Rodri 75’), Lewis, Reijnders, Foden (Semenyo 65’), Cherki, Marmoush
Unused subs: Donnarumma, Dias, Nunes, F. Samba
SALFORD XI: Young, Awe, Dorrington, Garbutt (C), Longelo, Cooper, Austerfield, Grant (Ashley 70’), N’Mai (Udoh 70’), Woodburn, Graydon
Unused subs: Howard, Turton, Stockton, Borini, Butcher, Ehibhatiomhan, Siri
Attendance: 46,774
MANAGER VERDICT
Check out the thoughts of manager Pep Guardiola right here shortly.
PLAYER REACTION
Find out the verdict of one of our first team players as we bring you reaction soon.
WHAT IT MEANS
City are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
The draw takes place on Monday and we’re ball No.14.
It’s scheduled for approximately 18:35 (UK) and will be made by Joe Cole and Karen Carney.
WHAT’S NEXT
It’s a full week now until our next assignment.
We take on Newcastle United at the Etihad in the Premier League on Saturday 21 February, kick-off 20:00 (UK).
City are second in the division, four points behind leaders Arsenal, with 12 matches remaining.
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