Newport County 1, Manchester City 4 (FA Cup 5th Round)
Manchester City are through to the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup after beating Newport County 4-1 at Rodney Parade with Phil Foden scoring twice.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Exiles should have taken the lead after 14 minutes through Tyreeq Bakinson while City had a penalty for handball turned down but after a goalless first half City capitalised on a pair of goalkeeping mistakes by Joe Day to score twice through Leroy Sane and Phil Foden.
Sane and Danilo also hit the woodwork and City took control in the second half of the contest.
Padraig Amond’s late strike with 2 minutes to go gave the Exiles hope but that was immediately snuffed out when Foden scored his second of the night before Riyad Mahrez hit a fourth for City in injury time.
Pep Guardiola kept true to his promise of respecting the competition and named a very strong side at Rodney Parade to face Newport County.
Only Sergio Aguero missed out from the big names and there was £321m worth of talent on show, including Fernandinho, from the start.
Guardiola made 7 changes with Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling and Aguero stepping down.
Instead of filling the team with EDS youngsters Guardiola replaced those stars with Danilo, Nicolas Otamendi, David Silva, Gabriel Jesus, and goalscorers Foden, Mahrez, and Sane.
Newport took advantage of the state of the Rodney Parade pitch with David Silva losing the ball after slipping with Amond trying to capitalise but John Stones was there to sweep up the ball and get it back to Ederson.
City went close through Mahrez and Fernandinho but it was the Exiles who went closest to an early goal after just 14 minutes.
Mickey Demetriou’s long throw was flicked on by Mark O’Brien beyond the lunge of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Bakinson’s back post header was saved by Ederson to keep the close range effort out with the Exiles’ midfielder unmarked.
The Newport long throw also allowed Joss Labady to send a shot wide as the home side continued to create chances from their set pieces.
Mahrez sent a couple more chances wide as City struggled to get to grips with the bumpy pitch, with their long range efforts failing to test Joe Day in the Newport goal but City were getting used to the bobbly pitch and improving quickly.
Day had to go down and save from Mahrez while Leroy Sane’s shot clipped the crossbar after he exchanged passes with David Silva as City continued to commit players forward.
O’Brien cleared the ball as David Silva opted to pass to Sane rather than shoot on his weaker right foot after Phil Foden’s ball put him onto a good position.
The ball hit O’Brien on the arm after Sane’s shot was deflected by Robbie Willmott late in the first half as City tried to carve out another chance from the edge of the Newport area – but without VAR there was no penalty given.
Errors by Joe Day give Manchester City the upper hand
Stones blocked Jamille Matt’s shot early in the second half but City went in front when they finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute with a crucial error from the luckless Joe Day.
Sane’s rasping side footed shot went straight into Day’s face and looped up before dropping agonisingly over the line from the dazed custodian after the German exchanged passes with Gabriel Jesus.
City were seeking a second immediately and Danilo’s left foot shot from 25 yards was saved by a diving Day.
Danilo’s shot also hit the outside of the post after Day’s intervention after a 1-2 with Jesus with City going on to completely dominate the game.
Padraig Amond trod on Otamendi’s ankle as Newport tried to outmuscle City – with a set piece being the Exiles’ only chance of scoring as O’Brien’s header was saved by Ederson.
City went 2-0 up against a tiring Newport with Phil Foden’s shot wriggling through Day’s grasp after the midfielder had skipped past Dan Butler before trying his luck.
It was a mark of the respect that City had for Newport that Fernandinho only went off with 12 minutes to go with City 2-0 to the good.
John Stones went into midfield after Aymeric Laporte replaced him.
Day blocked another shot from Sane late on as City eased off the gas having given a break to David Silva.
Wilmott’s cross was headed away by Otamendi with Amond waiting but the striker finally had his say when he beat Ederson – the first goal to be conceded by City in the FA Cup this term.
Laporte’s sloppy header from a hopeful long ball let Amond in and he beat Otamendi to it and lifted it into the empty net over Ederson to continue his run of scoring in every round for the Exiles with 2 minutes to go.
City didn’t need to worry long, though, as Foden snuffed out of the Newport comeback immediately – firing into the roof of the net and moving the ball onto his left foot and giving Day no chance a matter of seconds later after Sane had laid off the ball to the youngster.
And Mahrez completed the City stroll after Stones picked him out – he unleashed a powerful fourth goal from wide on the left for City from a narrow angle to beat Day.
MATCH STATS – Newport County 1, Manchester City 4 (FA Cup 5th Round)
Newport County: Day, Poole, O’Brien, Demetriou, Wilmott, Bennett (Franks 85), Bakinson (Sheehan 61), Labadie (Dolan 68), Butler, Matt, Amond
Newport County Subs not used: Townsend, Pipe, Franks, Marsh-Brown, McKirdy
Goal: Amond 88
Man City: Ederson, Danilo, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (Laporte 79), Foden, David Silva (Gundogan 82), Mahrez, Sane, Jesus
Man City Subs not used: Muric, Walker, Sterling, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva
Goals: Sane 51; Foden 75, 89; Mahrez 90+4
Attendance: 9785 (1600 Man City fans)