Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Man City star bags first ever FA Cup goal as Guardiola’s men overcome spirited Peterborough

Man City vs Peterborough

Jack Grealish scored his first ever FA Cup goal as Man City beat a spirited Peterborough United side in the FA Cup fifth round.

Pep Guardiola’s side struggled in the first half but goals from Riyad Mahrez and Grealish after the break saw them advance into the next round with a 2-0 victory. It means the Citizens are still on for the treble, as they hunt Premier League and Champions League glory too.

Guardiola gave Oleksandr Zinchenko a start, as the 25-year-old continues to come to terms with Russia’s invasion of his home country Ukraine. And there was a nice touch from Man City as Fernandinho gave Zinchenko the captain’s armband for the tie.

Guardiola also started likes of Grealish, Mahrez, Nathan Ake and Gabriel Jesus.

Jesus gave Peterborough an early warning when he blocked goalkeeper Steven Benda’s clearance within two minutes, and Posh were lucky to see it go wide of the net.

But it was the Championship outfit who had the first significant chance, when Jeando Fuchs was sent off down the right flank. He held off Ake before sending a deflected shot towards Ederson’s goal. The Brazil international had to get down smartly to push the effort away.

Posh held their own in the first half, forcing City back on occasion and running at centre-backs Ruben Dias and Ake.

Nathan Ake of Man City

City did have chances, but Grealish sent a 30th-minute shot way wide and Ilkay Gundogan failed to direct a Mahrez cross on target.

There was a huge cheer from the home fans at half time as their team made it to 45 minutes without conceding against the Premier League leaders.

Guardiola did turn to his bench at the interval, although he did not make any attacking changes. Centre-backs John Stones and Aymeric Laporte replaced Dias and Ake.


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Peterborough had a great opportunity to take the lead in the 49th minute. A throw-in was flicked on, finding Sammie Szmodics at the back post. He should have beaten Ederson on the half volley but only managed to send a tame shot wide.

Instead, it was the Citizens who went in front with 60 minutes on the clock. Foden played the ball out to Mahrez on the right wing. The Algerian forced his marker back before sending a guided shot into the bottom corner.

That strike, incidentally City’s first shot on target of the match, marked Mahrez’s 19th goal of the campaign so far.

And the tricky winger could have had a brace when City caught Posh on the counter-attack soon afterwards. Grealish played Mahrez in but he couldn’t beat Benda, under pressure from centre-back Josh Knight.

Grealish finds the net for Man City

The reigning Premier League champions doubled their advantage in the 67th minute, but this time it was Grealish who got on the scoresheet.

Foden found his England team-mate with a great pass from the halfway line, and it was met by an exquisite Grealish touch. The former Aston Villa star then beat Benda with a composed finish to mark his first ever FA Cup goal.

The away team should have made it 3-0 in the dying stages when Grealish headed into the path of Laporte. The defender had the goal at his mercy but somehow managed to miss the target.

It ended 2-0 at London Road as City reached the quarter-finals with relative ease, despite some early frustration.

City will now turn their attention back to the Premier League as they host rivals Manchester United at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon. Peterborough, meanwhile, travel to Huddersfield on Friday evening.

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