Manchester City were handed an FA Cup scare as they were forced to come from behind to beat Championship side Plymouth 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium to book their place in the last eight.
Plymouth – Liverpool’s conquerors in the fourth round – were eyeing another huge upset when Maksym Talovierov headed Miron Muslic’s side into a 38th-minute lead.
Yet any hopes the Pilgrims may have had of extending their unlikely cup run after surprise wins over Brentford and Liverpool were snuffed out by teenager Nico O’Reilly, who struck twice as Manchester City fought back to lead.
The 19-year-old, operating as a makeshift left-back, headed an equaliser before the break and then repeated the feat 14 minutes from time.
Kevin De Bruyne then cemented City’s place in the quarter-finals with their third goal in the 90th minute.
City’s eventual victory was no surprise, given their near total domination of play, and the win keeps Pep Guardiola’s side’s hopes of silverware this season alive with the FA Cup their final chance to win a trophy.
However, Plymouth’s stubbornness in defence gave the Premier League side plenty to think about
New head coach Muslic seems to have breathed new life into the Pilgrims since the sacking of Wayne Rooney on New Year’s Eve, giving them a fighting chance of avoiding relegation from the Championship and overseeing some cup heroics.
Pep proud of City’s FA Cup record
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola:
“I didn’t take anything for granted, when I saw how well they defended and the problems they created for Liverpool. They’re an incredibly solid team.
“We created a lot and conceded little – the basics we have done for many years. We’re happy to reach the quarter-finals and with the way we played.
“How many times in the last years have we reached the semi-finals? When you arrive six times in a row in the semi-finals, it’s because [the FA Cup] is important. When you play in this competition and you behave like the way we behave, I’m so proud – I love it.
“It shows how honest we are, and I like that. We’re one game away from Wembley and we’ll see what happens.”
Man City on course to salvage their season
Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly (centre) celebrates scoring their side’s second goal of the game
Sky Sports News reporter Ben Ransom at the Etihad Stadium:
You’ve got to be in it to win it, and Man City are now just two games away from a third consecutive FA Cup final.
To salvage something from this season, you’d say that a Wembley trip, along with Champions League qualification, is a must.
Was it an easy win? Far from it. The team that had already knocked out Liverpool and Brentford made the long trip to Manchester dreaming of another win.
But Man City’s so-called ‘second string’ – one that included seven senior internationals – managed to do what their Premier League rivals could not, battering the Pilgrims with cross after cross, corner after corner and eventually breaking them down.
There will still be some questions over Man City’s defending, going behind just before the break. But unlike in other games this season, this time they were able to come back and win – a surely welcome confidence boost.
As for Plymouth, they can be incredibly proud of their FA Cup run, and nobody will be able to take away the memories of their brave performances throughout.
Their attention now turns firmly to the battle for Championship survival, and Muslic has the chance to further etch his name into Argyle folklore.
Before that, though, he’s got a more pressing engagement – raising a glass with Guardiola. The City manager told us on Friday that he had bought an expensive bottle of wine to share after Muslic’s kind words pre-match.
Ben Ransom and Charlotte Marsh
It’s always important. Big competition. All the teams in England play and we want to win it.
‘Cup run will boost confidence for fight to stay in Championship’
Plymouth boss Miron Muslic:
“I think we gave a game to Man City. We made it difficult. Structure defensively was there. City are one of the best teams in the world coached by the best coach in the world. We can be disappointed with the result but proud of the performance.
“This will give us a confidence boost [in the fight to stay in the Championship], I’ve only been here eight or nine weeks and my first message to the team was that it should be hard to play against us, it should be annoying and difficult. We have proved this tonight so these are steps we can take.”
