Manchester City travel to Bournemouth as they look to salvage something from a dismal season and try to claim the FA Cup. The Blues have reached the last two finals, winning and losing one, and the famous old trophy is now their only hope of silverware this season.
They face a Bournemouth side that is making only their second appearance in the last eight of the FA Cup and, with home advantage and the fact that they beat the Blues in November, may give them the confidence and impetus to go one further and reach Wembley.
The two teams have never met each other in the FA Cup so for our match from the past this weekend, we travel back to 2016 and Manuel Pellegrini’s final few matches in charge at the Etihad Stadium. The Blues went into the match on the back of a disappointing home defeat to United and City needed a result and a good performance to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive.
And that’s just what the travelling Faithful got.
City dominated throughout and a thrashing looked on the cards as the Blues raced into a 3-0 lead with less than 20 minutes played.
City won a corner in the 7th minute and Fernando brilliantly turned in Jesus Navas’s cross to give City the lead. Bournemouth failed to clear and the ball bounced kindly for Fernando to hook home from 12 yards out.
Five minutes later, Kevin de Bruyne marked his return from injury to finish off a smart move that started in the Bournemouth half. The home side lost possession to David Silva and the Blues poured forward, with Silva providing the vital touch to play in de Bruyne, who finished from the edge of the penalty area.
Seven minutes later, the match was over as a contest as Sergio Aguero made it 3-0. Navas did well to cross from an overhit pass on the right and Aguero seemed to hang in the air as the ball arrived, thumping it home from close range.
City continued to press and Bournemouth were making it easy for them, losing possession time and again in their own half. Fernandinho came closest to making it 4-0 when his rasping drive, again from a Bournemouth error, crashed against the bar.
The Blues took their foot off the gas in the second half, but still had opportunities to increase the lead, while Bournemouth squandered a couple of good chances of their own. But, with the match heading towards the final whistle, Aleksandar Kolarov belted home to fourth to finish the match in style.
Picking up the ball on the left, the defender charged into the area and unleashed a powerful left foot shot that saw the ball beat the keeper and flew into the back of the goal. It was the goal of the match and fully ended City’s dismal run of one win in six matches.
Final Score: Bournemouth 0-4 Manchester City