MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JANUARY 07: Jeremy Doku of Manchester City celebrates scoring his teams fifth goal with teammate Phil Foden during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Manchester City and Huddersfield Town at Etihad Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Manchester City started the defence of their FA Cup title with a resounding 5-0 victory over Huddersfield Town on Sunday afternoon.
FA Cup
Result: Manchester City 5-0 Huddersfield Town
Date: 07 January 2024
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Citizens manager Pep Guardiola handed rare starts to goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, Oscar Bobb, Rico Lewis and Sergio Gomez while there was still no Erling Haaland in the squad.
The home side’s plans had to be re-adjusted after 19 minutes when defender Manuel Akanji was forced off with an injury and replaced by Matheus Nunes, who moved into the midfield.
After spells of domination, the Citizens broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute when Phil Foden collected a pass from Julian Alvarez before volleying home from a tight angle.
The lead was doubled for the home side four minutes minute when Alvarez bagged his 13th goal across all competitions by showing reflexes to turn home Rico Lewis’ low cross in the six yard area.
There would be no slowing down for the home side as Guardiola introduced Kevin de Bruyne for his return by replacing Alvarez, while Jack Grealish made way for Jeremy Doku on the left flank.
City’s dominance continued in the second half as they bagged a third goal in the 58th minute when Nunes managed to break beyond the defence and tee up Bobb, whose cross deflected into an empty net.
The fourth goal arrived six minutes later when a superb one-touch passing move ended with Gomez teeing up Foden, who calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
It was only a matter of time before De Bruyne stamped his authority on the game as he turned provider with 16 minutes to play by lofting a neat cross to the far post where Doku was on hand to volley home for the fifth goal.
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