Manchester City survived a scare in the FA Cup fourth round away to League One side Leyton Orient. Pep Guardiola’s side won 2-1 thanks to an admittedly lucky goal from new signing Abdukodir Khusanov before Kevin De Bruyne showed his class to win the game for the Citizens.
It was the home side who took the lead, with Orient close to scoring one of the all-time great FA Cup goals through Tottenham Hotspur loanee Jamie Donley. The attacker lobbed City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega from 45 yards out, with his strike clipping the bar before bouncing in off the German goalkeeper’s back, going down as an own goal.
Just 11 minutes after the second half began, the Citizens equalised after Rico Lewis’ shot from range deflected in off Khusanov’s head. It was a slightly fortunate goal, which completely wrong-footed the goalkeeper and nestled into the back of the net.
With 11 minutes to go, the Citizens had their winner. It was a lovely move rounded off by some quality from De Bruyne. Jack Grealish played a lovely clipped ball over the Orient defence that the Belgian ran onto and finished expertly.
It was not pretty from the Citizens, but they are, ultimately, through to the fifth round. There were some standout players on the pitch for them.
City’s best players against Orient
One of the standout players for City on Saturday lunchtime was Grealish. He was a creative force for 2023 winners, fashioning several chances which included his excellent ball over the top for De Bruyne which led to the winning goal.
Grealish’s stats from Sofascore show just how important he was today for Guardiola’s side. Playing on the left-hand side, the England international created five chances, including three big chances, and won four duels. It was an impressive performance.
Another player who was impressive against the League One outfit was Brazilian winger Savinho. The summer signing was constantly involved on the right, holding width well and running at the opposition defenders.
Charlie Parker-Turner, a journalist for The Express, agreed that Savinho performed well against Orient. He was given a 7/10 for his display, described as a “bright performance” and that “he was the pick of the City attackers”.
However, the same cannot be said for James McAtee, who struggled to impact the game at all.
McAtee’s stats v Orient
It was a tough day at the office for City academy graduate McAtee. After a move in January to German champions Bayer Leverkusen did not materialise, he had to take his chance for City when it arose. Unfortunately, he struggled against Orient.
Operating as a No 10, the 22-year-old did not really have much of an impact on the game, struggling to create any chances of note. He did hit the post in the second half, but other than that, his contribution was disappointing.
McAtee’s stats from the game show just how frustrating of an afternoon it was for him. He completed just 78% of his passes and had only 37 touches in 72 minutes on the pitch. The City number 87 failed to create a chance and only won two duels from nine.
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McAtee stats v Leyton Orient |
|
|---|---|
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Stat |
Number |
|
Touches |
37 |
|
Pass accuracy |
78% |
|
Passes completed |
18/23 |
|
Possession lost |
10 |
|
Duels won |
2/9 |
|
Chances created |
0 |
|
Stats from Sofascore |
|
His tough afternoon was also noticed by Parker-Turner, who gave the Englishman a 4/10 for his performance. McAtee “never truly looked like leaving his mark on the game”, which is frustrating given how rare his opportunities can be.
After a hat-trick in the third round, McAtee would have loved to back that up with another good performance. He is clearly a talented player, but given he has only started five times this season, he needed to take his chance today.
The Englishman will be hoping the chance to start comes again soon, although he will have to wait as fielding him against Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round next time out is a bridge too far.
