Five Things We Learned: Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal (Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round) | OneFootball

A delightful Nathan Ake strike was enough to see Manchester City through to the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup on Friday night, as Pep Guardiola and his players overcame a rotated Arsenal side 1-0.

Pep Guardiola named a side with two changes from the comfortable 3-0 win against Wolves, with Aymeric Laporte and Ederson dropping to the bench for Nathan Ake and Stefan Ortega respectively.

Jack Grealish showed great awareness inside the penalty box to lay the ball off to Nathan Ake who ran on to the end of the pass before placing his shot into the bottom right corner of Matt Turner’s net.

The win puts Pep Guardiola’s side into the next round of the Emirates FA Cup, as the Catalan coach looks to add yet another trophy to his illustrious tenure as Manchester City boss.

Here are five things we learned from City’s FA Cup fourth round win against Arsenal!

Another slow start

Erling Haaland began his hat-trick against Wolves by netting in the first half, but that was the only goal in the first half of City’s last five matches – a possible concern for Pep Guardiola. His side’s inability to start games quickly coincides with a mixed run of form for Manchester City.

Some quarters of the media have labelled this issue as the Norwegian’s fault – claiming he has made the side too predictable. However, as shown on Friday night, despite having a strong midfield and forward line, the creativity in the team has been lacking.

How can Pep Guardiola solve this problem? The answer may lie within the squad.

Julian Alvarez showed in the World Cup, and against Tottenham, what he brings to the side. His relentless pressing and technical qualities may allow Manchester City to get out of the blocks firing – winning the ball back high up the pitch leading to potential chances.

City still need a left back despite a MOTM performance

With Joao Cancelo struggling for form as well as game-time, and Sergio Gomez not featuring much at all, Nathan Ake once again slotted into the left back position against Arsenal despite being a centre back by trade.

With him in the side, there’s a clear lack of offensive width down the left side of the attack. With Jack Grealish’s tendency to cut back on to his right foot, there should be someone offering width to stretch teams horizontally and create space for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne.

Despite his goal, which was a well-taken effort into the bottom right corner, Ake hasn’t contributed enough offensively over the course of the season to suggest he’s good enough to hold down the place on a regular basis.

Stones could be missing for upcoming matches

It’s always a disappointing sight when one of your main defenders goes down injured. It’s even more disappointing when it’s a muscle injury.

John Stones missed five games earlier on in the season due to a hamstring injury and it looks like he could be seeing some time out of action. The England international went down holding his hamstring at the end of the first half, prompting Pep Guardiola to make a change, with Aymeric Laporte coming on in his place.

With Manchester City chasing down Arsenal in the Premier League, the injury to the defender – who has featured the joint-most in that competition, will no doubt frustrate his manager.

Stones looked comfortable in the first half locking up his area in the heart of the defence as well as sweeping up down the right side, as Rico Lewis looked to invert in possession and Arsenal offered a threat with new signing Leandro Trossard.

Luckily for the Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has a plethora of talent available to choose from to replace the England defender, with the two standout names being Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte.

Ilkay Gundogan is still capable of performing to a high level

Amid reported interest in Ilkay Gundogan from FC Barcelona, Manchester City should be trying to tie him down to a new contract for at least another season or two. Friday night’s performance showed the club captain still has the ability to produce in big matches.

Against a top team like Arsenal – who like to keep possession – you need individuals that can make a difference when you have the ball, and Ilkay Gundogan excelled in that department.

Losing possession only twice across the whole match, as well as winning five of his seven ground duels, he proved his effectiveness at breaking up play and recycling possession. These are crucial attributes in a possession-hungry Manchester City side.

Manchester City favourites to lift the trophy

The Citizens haven’t been their usual flawless self in recent matches, however they showed a different side to their game against Arsenal.

Despite not playing the most elegant football we’ve been treated to over the course of Pep Guardiola’s tenure, his side showed a real grit and determination to grind out a victory, and knock-out many peoples’ favourite.

With Liverpool out of form this season, and facing a Brighton team they struggled against recently, the only team left in the competition that could cause problems for City is Manchester United.

However, if Manchester City play at the best of their ability, they should be able to overcome Erik Ten Hag’s side as shown by their dominant performance against their city rivals earlier in October.