Five Things Learned: Leyton Orient 1-2 Manchester City (FA Cup fourth round) | OneFootball

Manchester City advanced to the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday afternoon following a comeback victory over Leyton Orient winning 1-2 at Brisbane Road.

With plenty of senior players rested in anticipation of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash with Real Madrid, Manchester City clearly anticipated a comfortable afternoon in the capital against Orient.

Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez made their debuts for the blues, as Pep Guardiola and his players looked to bounce back from last Sunday’s dismal defeat to Arsenal in which Mikel Arteta’s side inflicted a heavy 5-1 scoreline on the reigning top-flight champions.

The hosts made life tricky for the visitors, with Orient attacking down Manchester City’s right-hand side early on and making life difficult for the likes of Rico Lewis, who returned to the side for this one.

Now we know the ‘Tottenham curse’ exists for City, but when a Spurs loanee lobs the goalkeeper from 40 yards to give League One Leyton Orient a lead, you start to question the power of it, as the home side took an early and deserved lead.

In the aftermath of the goal, Nico Gonzalez – who was dispossessed for the opener – couldn’t continue after the knock he sustained which lead to the goal. The Spaniard was replaced by Bernardo Silva after an unfortunate early end to his City debut.

Leyton Orient found themselves in dreamland at the half-time interval, leading the Premier League champions with a historic FA Cup upset potentially on the cards in a difficult week for the visitors.

Pep Guardiola made a couple of changes at the break, bringing Abdukodir Khusanov and John Stones on to replace Vitor Reis and Ruben Dias, in what was a pre-meditated change before the game had commenced.

Eventually the blues grew into the game, creating chances and looking like finally equalising and despite the heroic efforts of Orient keeper Josh Keeley, City did manage to grab a scruffy equaliser after 56 minutes.

A short corner was rerouted to the edge of the box, where Rico Lewis had a shot on goal which deflected off the shoulder of Abdukodir Khusanov, grabbing his first City strike in just his second game.

With one eye potentially on Real Madrid in midweek and the threat of an extra 30 minutes of football becoming a real possibility, Pep Guardiola called upon his big guns to change the game, with Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne coming on after 72 minutes.

It didn’t take long for the impact to happen, when a lofted through ball in behind the Orient defence landed in the path of De Bruyne, who got a toe in to smartly tap the ball past Keeley, giving City the lead just before 80 minutes.

Despite a couple of half chances for the hosts, the blues did manage to hold on to the lead and breathe a sigh of relief, as they advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup. With that being said, here are Five Things We Learned from Saturday’s comeback victory!

Solid outings from a new defensive duo

Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov arrived at Manchester City as part of the recent January recruitment drive, with the pair providing much-needed reinforcement at the back for the Blues at the midway stage of the season.

Despite a somewhat disappointing debut for Khusanov against Chelsea in the Premier League, the Uzbek international looked much more affirmed in his display at Leyton Orient, while debutant Vitor Reis looked composed and assured in possession.

A big blow for Nico

With Rodri still out for the long-term, Nico Gonzalez arrived to provide cover in the absence of the Spaniard, and with some huge games looming for Manchester City, the arrival of the 23-year-old was timely for the blues.

The injury setback he suffered in the first-half at Orient is a hammer blow for the blues and Nico himself as we await confirmation of the severity of the injury, with the player seeming to be struggling with his right hip before being forced off.

Kevin De Bruyne is still *that guy*?

Despite unquestionably not being in the prime of his career anymore, Kevin De Bruyne’s 20-minute cameo on Saturday shown exactly why he is still the go to man in situations where City need a saviour.

It wasn’t just the goal that highlighted the impact of De Bruyne, with the Belgian calming everything down in the midfield before breaching the defence and scoring the winner in this one.

With a huge set of fixtures on the horizon, managing the minutes of De Bruyne will be crucial, with Pep Guardiola definitely needing his Belgian prince to provide his magic to get through the next month.

City will have to improve on Tuesday

Despite the rotation in the side for this one, several key players who started were subpar in their performance, as City ultimately dragged themselves to victory against League One opposition.

With arguably the best side in world football up next, City will have to improve in all departments if they are to keep their UEFA Champions League hopes alive, with Real Madrid likely to pounce on any mistakes whatsoever.

Defensive decisions to be made

Rico Lewis was arguably City’s best player against Leyton Orient, grabbing an assist and contributing defensively after a difficult opening 10 minutes to the match.

With Matheus Nunes filling in for the last few weeks at right-back, we wonder whether that will remain the same, or whether Rico Lewis will be trusted to face up against the runner up of the 2024 Ballon D’or, Vinicius JR.