Manchester City secured their place in the quarter-final of the FA Cup with an entertaining 3-0 victory over Bristol City on Tuesday.
The hosts at Ashton Gate may have seen their unbeaten start to 2023 come to an end but Bristol City made a real game of this, although they were powerless to stop two Phil Foden goals and an excellent strike from Kevin De Bruyne.
Kalvin Phillips’ long-range strike thundered against the crossbar after 60 seconds exactly, but Sam Bell had a half-chance of his own moments after in what was a hectic opening to the game.
The opening goal came seven minutes in as an unmarked Foden powered home at the back post to finish off a low cross from Riyad Mahrez.
The hosts didn’t lie down, however, with the highly rated Alex Scott causing problems, although former Chelsea man Tomas Kalas was needed to make a handful of big blocks and clear off the line as Man City attempted to flex their quality.
Clear-cut chances were limited for a large part of the first half, but there was no shortage of entertainment and De Bruyne eventually got the penalty box action back underway as he drilled over five minutes before the interval.
Man City fizzed in plenty of crosses to kick off the second half, while at the other end, Bell came agonisingly close to heading home an equaliser as the Bristol City man just couldn’t get his connection right.
To kill off any hope of an equaliser from the hosts, City added their second with 15 minutes to go. A glorious pass from De Bruyne kicked things off and, after Nathan Ake and Julian Alvarez kept the ball moving, Foden’s low strike ended up in the back of the net after a deflection.
De Bruyne was celebrating a goal of his own soon after as he bent home a powerful strike from range with ten minutes remaining to close out what was a thorughly entertaining cup tie.
GK: Max O’Leary (5); RB: George Tanner (6); CB: Zak Vyner (5); CB: Tomas Kalas (8); LB: Cameron Pring (7); DM: Matty James (7); DM: Joe Williams (6); RM: Mark Sykes (6); AM: Alex Scott (7); LW: Sam Bell (5); ST: Nakhi Wells (6).
Substitutes: Andreas Weimann (6), Jay Dasilva (6), Marlee Francois (N/A), Omar Taylor-Clarke (N/A), Andy King (N/A).
GK: Stefan Ortega – 6/10 – Busier than he’ll have expected in the first half. Subbed at the break after appearing to pick up a knock.
CB: Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – Looked a little uncomfortable and lost his footing a few times to invite pressure. Made a massive interception to prevent a great chance early in the second half.
CB: Ruben Dias – 7/10 – Another dominant defensive showing from Dias, who caused more than a few problems in attack as well.
CB: Nathan Ake – 7/10 – Typically classy. Some excellent passing to turn defence into attack.
DM: Rico Lewis – 6/10 – Didn’t always inspire confidence defensively but he did influence things in possession.
DM: Kalvin Phillips – 6/10 – A solid showing. Lost possession once or twice but was unlucky not to score a screamer early on.
RM: Riyad Mahrez – 7/10 – Wasn’t involved as much as he’d have liked but made a telling impact when he did get the ball, including the cross for Foden’s opening goal.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 7/10 – A quiet first half but picked up the quality after the break. An excellent pass in the build-up for the second and a great strike from range for the third.
CM: Bernardo Silva – 6/10 – Found space hard to come by in between Bristol City’s structured defensive lines.
LM: Phil Foden – 8/10 – The main attacking threat for City. Another dazzling performance topped off with two goals.
ST: Julian Alvarez – 5/10 – Didn’t get a whole lot of service but also didn’t make the most of his opportunities.
Substitutes
Ederson (46′ for Ortega) – 6/10 – Made a crunching clearance with his first involvement and didn’t see much of the ball after that.
Jack Grealish (71′ for Mahrez) – 7/10 – Some nice moments to add some extra quality.
Sergio Gomez (82′ for Ake) – N/A
Cole Palmer (82′ for Foden) – N/A
Maximo Perrone (88′ for Silva) – N/A
Manager
Pep Guardiola – 6/10 – Job done, really. May have some concerns about his side’s defending but that’s nothing new.
