Manchester City reached the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to victory over Salford City, but Mansfield Town produced a shock to knock out Premier League side Burnley
Rayan Aït-Nouri of Manchester City celebrates
Manchester City had enough to see off Salford City(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images)
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League Two side Salford City put in a good performance against Manchester City, but the Premier League giants proved too strong as they moved into the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win.
Salford must have been fearing the worst when an own goal from Alfie Dorrington put Pep Guardiola's side ahead after six minutes. Thoughts of City's 10-1 thrashing of Exeter City in the previous round immediately came to mind, but Salford didn't crumble.
Karl Robinson's side recovered their composure and gave a good account of themselves, despite City dominating possession, boasting 80 per cent of the ball. Erling Haaland was given the day off by Guardiola and was in the stands at the Etihad to watch City's second string play.
But despite having Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Tijani Reijnders and Omar Marmoush in attack, City did not double their lead until the 81st minute, when substitute Marc Guehi grabbed his first goal for the club following a January move from Crystal Palace.
Guehi was summoned from the bench alongside Antoine Semenyo, Rodri and Nico O'Reilly, highlighting the gulf in resources between the two sides. Salford bowed out with a creditable performance and will now turn their attention to achieving promotion from League Two, where they lie in sixth place.
"For Salford to get to this stage they have done well," ex-Man City midfielder Michael Brown said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "The test was there with this draw but Robinson will have learned a lot about his players. It was a difficult start but they will mature from it. It was a good day out for their fans."
Guardiola told the BBC: "They defended really well, so tight and we didn't attack the spaces the way we should. The game was flat until they scored the second goal. Until 2-0, the game was not good. You can go 1-0 and play magnificently. Sometimes you can win 3-0 and the game is not good."
The banana skin of the FA Cup was shown at Turf Moor, where came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1. Scott Parker made nine changes to his starting line-up after the morale-boosting 3-2 win over Crystal Palace and it proved costly as League One Mansfield claimed a Premier League scalp and triggered boos from the home side.
Mansfield Town's English manager Nigel Clough applauds fans
Nigel Clough led Mansfield to a shock at Burnley(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
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Josh Laurent put Burnley 1-0 up midway through the first half, but the Clarets faded and Rhys Oates and Louis Reed turned the game around for Nigel Clough's side. Parker eased pressure on himself with the win over Palace, yet that feel-good feeling has disappeared immediately as Burnley head back to the relegation battle, where they are nine points from safety.
"Amazing story and Nigel Clough, at the helm, has done a brilliant job at Mansfield," Chris Sutton said on Final Score. "To think Mansfield came from behind against Premier League opposition, they kept on peppering Burnley's goal, but the free-kick from Louis Reed deserves to win any cup-tie."
Norwich City's good form under Philippe Clement continued with a 3-1 win over fellow Championship side West Brom, Southampton made it two wins in a week over Leicester by coming through 2-1 in extra time, while West Ham avoided an upset by beating Burton Albion 1-0 in Saturday's early kick-off. It took a stunning strike from Crysencio Summerville to get the job done for Nuno Espirito Santo's team in extra time.
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