90min
·11 de enero de 2025
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Yahoo sports90min
·11 de enero de 2025
Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a composed, confident win over League Two promotion hopefuls Salford City.
The Premier League champions have been in the doldrums for the first time under Pep Guardiola, seemingly playing themselves out of the title race for the first time in what feels like forever.
So their resounding 8-0 success over Salford, owned by Manchester United legends Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes among others, was another welcome step on the road to recovery - City's win never in doubt after Jeremy Doku opened the scoring after just four minutes.
There was a fair amount of head scratching when Guardiola announced his much-changed starting lineup, with youngster Jahmai Simpson-Pusey - who astonishingly hadn't won a game in City colours in his previous five appearances - and Nathan Ake the only two recognised defenders on the pitch.
But modern day football has evolved into patterns of play, organised and intense presses, and fluidity of movement - something that allowed City's host of midfield and forward players to do their thing when the opportunity arose.
It didn't take long for Matheus Nunes to pinch the ball from Salford in the heart of midfield, driving forward at their defence. His simple pass to Jack Grealish created an overload on the left flank, and Belgian winger Doku was on hand to fire into the bottom corner despite the best efforts of young Salford goalkeeper Matthew Young.
With 20 minutes on the clock, it was essentially game over. Savinho picked up the ball on the right side before driving towards Salford's penalty area. His cute pass in-behind found the onrushing Nunes, who turned it across the six-yard box for former West Ham academy striker Divin Mubama to net his first City goal.
Kylian Kouassi's jinking run briefly threatened a highlight reel goal for Salford, but after his effort was saved easily by Ederson, City recomposed to grab a third before half-time. This time it was Nico O'Reilly's turn to score his first goal for the club, sliding the ball into the bottom-right corner after good work down the left from Doku.
Ake was replaced by Manuel Akanji at half-time as Guardiola sought to manage the workload of his defenders, both of whom have been injured recently, and the Spaniard was given further reason to smile when Grealish was hauled down inside the area.
The playmaker, without a goal this season heading into the game, stepped up to make it 4-0 by sending Young the wrong way.
James McAtee, a regular in transfer gossip columns of late, made it five just past the hour mark, tucking home from close range after more great work on the wing from Doku.
The latter made it six, converting a penalty after Curtis Tilt handled in the area, before McAtee again picked up the mantle to make it a try and conversion scoreline. He added an eighth before the game was out, taking his career goal tally for City from two to five in the space of 90 minutes.
Doku swept home City's first goal from an angle / Carl Recine/GettyImages
It's fair to say Jeremy Doku is either electrifying on the wing or completely anonymous. On this particular occasion, the Belgian was absolutely sensational.
Yes, he was coming up against League Two opposition, but this performance will serve as a big confidence booster as City look to get their Premier League and Champions League campaigns back on track.
Doku's movement was irresistible, on both flanks, and his bursts of speed were far too much for an overwhelmed Salford defence to deal with. Two goals and two assists was a fine showing in the 74 minutes he played, more than staking a claim to be Guardiola's first-choice left winger.
Simpson-Pusey and O'Reilly enjoyed their evenings / Carl Recine/GettyImages
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, James McAtee and Nico O'Reilly have all been in and around City's first team for a while, but haven't really been able to showcase their ability.
Divin Mubama has rarely had a kick up front too, with Erling Haaland seemingly happy to take on an heavy workload up front if that's what Pep Guardiola asks.
There can be no doubt on this evidence that City's academy is doing exactly what it needs to do. All four players put in confident displays, with McAtee and O'Reilly shining in particular, and Guardiola may recognise that he perhaps doesn't need to bog down his aging, injury-prone players with as many minutes as he does.
McAtee certainly looks ready to compete at a high level - whether or not he leaves the Etihad to do that remains to be seen - and his hat-trick will have been noticed by interested parties.
Grealish celebrates James McAtee's hat-trick goal / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages
"As much as he looks at himself, he will see the competition and that he has to compete, himself. Savinho is in better shape and everything than Jack and that's why I played Savinho.
"I want the Jack that won the Treble? Yeah, I want it. But I try to be honest with myself for that. You can say it's unfair. If you think that, then it's fine. But you have to prove and say, 'Okay, I'm going to fight with Savinho, to deserve to play in that position every single day, every single week and every single month'."
Those were the words of Pep Guardiola in the aftermath of City's 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham United - a clear message to Jack Grealish that to earn a regular place in the side, he needs to step things up.
The late-afternoon excursions against Salford won't have convinced Guardiola that Grealish has turned a corner yet, but he did certainly look comfortable operating in a central area. Usually, the Englishman can be found operating on the flanks, but Doku likely has the left nailed down for a while, opposite the aforementioned Savinho.
Grealish has the guile, touch and craft to play as a number #10 for City and he did a more than adequate job here. Four chances created, two assists grabbed and a penalty won? Just what the FA Cup ordered.