Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Manchester City vs Arsenal FA Cup fourth-round fixture from the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Manchester City progresses to the fifth round after edging a 1-0 win against Arsenal courtesy of a 64th strike by Nathan Ake.
Booking: Ilkay Gundogan sees a yellow card for time wasting.
Booking: Zinchenko sees a yellow card on his return at the Etihad Stadium after pulling down Walker in the middle of the park.
Man City not really looking for a second goal and remains content on keeping the ball inside its own half.
Four added minutes given at the end of the second-half.
Xhaka slips a good pass to Martinelli who had made the run but Ortega comes out in time and collects the ball. However, it wouldn’t have counted if Martinelli scored because he was offside when Xhaka played the ball to him.
Arsenal keeps the pressure on as Martinelli forces another corner after from the byline.
The second corner is cleared to safety by the City defence. Arsenal is still pushing for that precious equaliser.
Arsenal trying to find an opening by passing the ball around City’s penalty-area. It has managed to get a corner.
Alvarez goes for another shot from distance, but this time the ball ends up with Turner who catches the ball.
The match enters its last 10 minutes plus stoppage time. The Gunners need to find a way out fast.
Man City has certainly slowed down the tempo of the match after taking the lead. But Arsenal definitely has the quality to come back into the match.
Arsenal sub: IN- Odegaard OUT- Saka
Manchester City sub: IN- B. Silva OUT- De Bruyne.
That goal has definitely woken up Arsenal and the players are playing with an extra gear right now. Arteta has made some positive substitutions. It remains to be seen whether the Gunners can score an equaliser.
Close- Xhaka whips in a dangerous ball for Nketiah in the middle of the box. Laporte gets to the ball just in time to poke the ball away for a corner.
Arsenal subs: IN- Zinchenko, Martinelli OUT- Trossard, Tierney.
GOOOALLLLL!! MANCHESTER CITY SCORES!! NATHAN AKE FINDS THE NET!! Alvarez hits the post with his shot from distance. The rebound falls to Grealish who holds the ball instead of going for the first-time shot. He passes the ball to Ake who curls the ball in the bottom-right corner with his weaker left foot.
The ball falls kindly to Vieira who takes a shot at goal with a first-time volley. He catches the shot well but cannot keep it on target.
Manchester City subs: IN- Alvarez, Walker OUT- Mahrez, Lewis.
City with a threatening attack - Mahrez finds De Bruyne who had made an overlapping run on the right flank. De Bruyne sends in a driving low cross inside the box, with the intention of finding Haaland in the middle but Turner gets a hand to it before the ball reached the City No. 9.
Arsenal keeper Matt Turner has hurt his shoulder after an awkward landing and is currently receiving medical attention.
Rico Lewis tries to square the ball to the middle of the box after making a good overlapping run. However, his cross hits the side-netting.
De Bruyne gets the ball after Arsenal loses it. He carries the ball before threading a pass to Haaland. However, Tomiyasu does really well to shield the ball from the Norwegian. The Gunners come out unscathed from that City attack.
Man City has started the second-half positively. Arsenal has been pegged back in its own half in the opening minutes of the second 45 minutes.
Arsenal subs: IN- Saliba, Lokonga OUT- Holding, Partey.
The second-half of the fourth-round FA Cup tie between Manchester City and Arsenal kicks-off at the Etihad Stadium.
The match remains goalless at the break.
Manchester City sub: IN- Laporte OUT- Stones
It seems like Stones cannot continue in the match.
It seems that Stones has pulled his hamstring. That is never good news for a player. It remains to be seen whether he can continue. Laporte and Dias have both started their warmup.
Two minutes added at the end of the first-half.
Booking: Rob Holding becomes the first player to get a booking as he gets a yellow card after bringing down Haaland.
Grealish with another good chance to find Haaland with an in-swinging cross. Haaland had gotten ahead of Gabriel, ready to attack the cross but Grealish overhit the ball, which sends it out of play.
A miskick by Tierney allows Haaland to make a run for the looseball. Gabriel had a bigger headstart but the Norwegian reaches the ball using his pace. He tries to lob Turner but sends the ball out for a goalkick.
Grealish picks up the ball and makes a good run inside the Arsenal half. He tries to find Haaland with a measured pass but sees it intercepted right before it reached the forward.
Trossard with a great run on the left flank. He makes his way to the byline and sends a low cross to the middle. Nketiah got first to the ball and stuck a leg out but couldn’t keep his effort on target.
Play resumes and Haaland is okay to continue.
Haaland is down with a head injury after a collision with Holding. The striker is currently receiving medical treatment. He should be fine to continue.
Saka goes toe-to-toe with Ake on the right but slips, allowing the Dutch defender to get the ball. We all know how much of a threat Saka can pose from that right flank.
Mahrez cuts in and tries a shot at goal, which is blocked. The danger isn’t over and this time, De Bruyne tries to find the top corner with a curling shot. However, the ball didn’t curl enough and goes out for an Arsenal goalkick.
Save: Trossard almost scoring his first Arsenal goal but Ortega does well to make the save. The shot was hard but at a comfortable height for the Belgian. The Belgian did well to get away from Rico and make space for the shot.
City trying to use the full breadth of the pitch by going wide whenever it can. It has good crossers in Grealish and Mahrez on both flanks who can use Haaland’s aerial threat.
Arteta would have surely noticed Haaland’s physical dominance over Holding, who seems to have been given the job of marking the Norwegian. Inside the opening 15 minutes, we have already seen Haaland get the better of Holding as far as physical dominance is concerned.
Gundogan makes a good run through the Arsenal half and finds Grealish on the left flank. Grealish sends the ball inside the box with an in-swinging cross but it is an easy catch for Turner.
Akanji with a wonderful ball, which turns defence into attack. Holding loses the physical battle with Haaland and the Norwegian looked to have a clear run at goal. But, Turner comes out and gets the ball away. Haaland gets the ball again and tries to catch Turner out of his line with a lobbed shot, but Tomiyasu is there to mop up the danger.
As expected, Manchester City enjoying more of the ball, but whenever Arsenal does get the ball, it looks to conjure a threatening attack.
Trossard does extremely well to keep the ball on the left side of the box. His pinged ball finds Tomiyasu, who lashes a first time shot at goal, which is saved well by Ortega.
Arsenal loses the ball in a dangerous area after Man City’s press. Guardiola’s men show some snappy passing before Rodri takes a shot from distance, which is off target.
Haaland tries to make an early at goal but he is stopped by Rob Holding. It is a tussle between both players and ultimately, it is a foul in favour of Arsenal.
The FA Cup 4th Round tie between Manchester City and Arsenal kicks-off at the Etihad Stadium.
15 minutes to kick-off!! Stay tuned for live updates!!
Manchester City fans inside the stadium hold up a toy depicting Manchester City’s Erling Braut Haaland. | Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Stat Attack!
- ⦿ Arsenal has won its last four FA Cup meetings against Manchester City. It has reached the final every time it has beaten City, winning on three occasions (1971, 2017, 2020)
- ⦿ Manchester City has won its last nine home matches in the FA Cup, scoring at least three goals in every win and 40 goals in total. The only other team to have won nine in a row while scoring 3+ goals in FA Cup history is Blackburn Rovers between 1881 and 1885, a run of 12.
- ⦿ Arsenal lost its last FA Cup match against a fellow Premier League side, 1-0 at Southampton in the 2020-21 fourth round. It has not lost consecutive such meetings in the competition since January 2010 (vs Stoke) and March 2011 (vs Manchester United).
Match Preview
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, on Thursday, said he was well aware of Mikel Arteta’s quality long before he led Arsenal to the top of the Premier League, lauding the north London team for keeping faith in his former assistant.
Arteta, who captained Arsenal during his playing career, served as assistant to Guardiola at City from 2016 to 2019 before Arsenal appointed him as manager.
Arteta’s Arsenal currently sits top of the league standings with 50 points after 19 games, five points above second-placed City, which has played a game more.
The teams will face off at the Etihad Stadium in Friday’s fourth-round FA Cup clash.
“I don’t know my impact on him (Arteta), but his influence on me was so important to become a better manager,” Guardiola told reporters on Thursday. “I knew it from when he was here (at City), his ability.
“The biggest compliment for Arsenal as well, because in the bad moments, they trusted him and kept him. To do this, they had to support him, that’s why you need time and investment. The results are there.
“Everyone has dreams. I know he went to his club, where he is a supporter, he was a captain there. He loves the club. I remember here, when we scored goals he would jump a lot except against one team. It was Arsenal. I said that guy likes Arsenal.”
Guardiola also dismissed any notion of regret at letting forward Gabriel Jesus and defender Oleksandr Zinchenko move to Arsenal from City in the close season.
The pair have featured frequently for Arsenal this season, and have both made at least 15 appearances in all competitions despite suffering from injuries.
“Oleks (Zinchenko) and Gabriel have been amazing for us,” Guardiola said. “We respect them as people and football players. We want to beat them, but when they have success, we are more than delighted.”
Guardiola also provided a fitness update on midfielder Phil Foden, who has been struggling with a foot injury. “He’s getting better. We train this afternoon. Everyone else is good,” he said.
Saturday’s meeting will be the teams’ first this season.
Their league fixture in October was postponed to accommodate a Europa League game that could not be played due to a lack of adequate security personnel following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
-Reuters
