Seeking to progress to Wembley Stadium and edge one step closer to repeating last season’s success in the Emirates FA Cup, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City welcomed Newcastle United to Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.
MCI: Ortega; Gvardiol, Akanji, Dias, Walker; Kovačić, Rodri; Doku, Foden, Bernardo Silva; Haaland
NEW: Dubravka; Burn, Botman, Schär, Lascelles, Murphy; Willock, Guimarães, Longstaff; Isak, Gordon
With a historic back-to-back treble still on the cards for the Cityzens, Saturday’s hosts roared into the lead within the first fifteen minutes of this quarterfinal tie. Bernardo Silva caught Martin Dubravka off guard, with Dan Burn’s outstretched leg seeing the Portuguese midfielder’s strike deflect past the Magpies ‘keeper.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother deflection would see the Cityzens double their lead shortly after the half-hour mark, as Bernardo Silva’s second attempt on goal flew into the back of the net via Sven Botman’s head.
Admittedly, Manchester City did not seem to progress out of first gear as they reached their sixth consecutive FA Cup semifinal – but there was never a need to, with a disappointing Newcastle United performance allowing the Cityzens to cruise through with ease.
Manchester City’s next outing sees them host Arsenal on March 31, in a tie that has the potential to influence the destination of the Premier League trophy come May. Newcastle United face West Ham United in their next match, but the league will first pause for the upcoming international break.
