Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta were reunited in the technical area once again tonight during the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Etihad Stadium, with Manchester City needing a narrow 1-0 win in front of home support to dispatch a young Arsenal side that was heavily rotated but nevertheless performed admirably away from the capital.
FT: Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
Nathan Ake’s goal secures Pep Guardiola’s side a place in the #FACup fifth-round! 👊
Arsenal are out.
Reaction ⏬#BBCFootball #MCIARS pic.twitter.com/LIsn3uduyO
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 27, 2023
Despite the changes in the Arsenal XI, Mikel Arteta’s outfit stood toe-to-toe with City in the opening 30-minutes in a show of force that was commensurate with the growing reality that the Gunners are, on form, just as good as the reigning Premier League champions.
Arsenal crafted the better chances in the opening exchanges, with City showing due respect to the current league leaders despite being on their home patch, with both Takehiro Tomiyasu and Leandro Trossard testing cup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega with rasping efforts inside the opening 20-minutes on either side of Erling Haaland nearly capitalizing on Matt Turner coming well out of goal to clear, with the Norwegian attempting an over-head kick that was dealt with by Tomiyasu.
The match remained deadlocked until the 65th minute from an unlikely source through Dutch international defender Nathan Aké after second-half substitute Julián Álvarez hit the far post after unleashing a well-struck effort from range, with the ball bouncing back to Jack Grealish who eventually found Aké inside the area to bend an accurate effort into the far corner.
City had made good on their increased dominance since the interval and looked on-odds to secure passage into the next round on evidence leading up to the goal, but Arsenal almost immediately equalized through Eddie Nketiah if for a last-gasp block from Aymeric Laporte after the Hale End graduate was nearly found six yards out.
That goal would stand as the match-winner on the night for City, but alarm bells perhaps should be ringing around the Etihad after Guardiola’s men labored to a result against what was largely a second-string Arsenal side for the bulk of the tie.
📰 Table Of Contents
Manchester City Player Ratings
- GK: Stefan Ortega – 7
- RB: Rico Lewis – 7
- CB: Manuel Akanji – 7
- CB: John Stones – 6.5
- LB: Nathan Aké – 8
- CM: Ilkay Gündogan – 7
- CM: Rodri – 7
- CAM: Kevin De Bruyne – 6
- RW: Riyad Mahrez – 6.5
- LW: Jack Grealish – 7
- CF: Erling Haaland – 6
- Sub: Aymeric Laporte – 6.5
- Sub: Julián Álvarez – 7
- Sub: Kyle Walker – 6
- Sub: Bernardo Silva – 6.5
Arsenal Player Ratings
- GK: Matt Turner – 7
- RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6.5
- CB: Rob Holding – 6
- CB: Gabriel Magalhães – 7
- LB: Kieran Tierney – 6.5
- DM: Thomas Partey – 7
- CM: Fábio Vieira – 6
- CM: Granit Xhaka – 6.5
- RW: Bukayo Saka – 6
- LW: Leandro Trossard – 7
- CF: Eddie Nketiah – 6
- Sub: William Saliba – 7
- Sub: Sambi Lokonga – 5.5
- Sub: Gabriel Martinelli – 7
- Sub: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6.5
- Sub: Martin Ødegaard – 6
Key Performers
No player made more successful tackles than Nathan Aké (2) in the first half and he won 100% of his ground duels.
Keeping Bukayo Saka quiet so far. 🤫 pic.twitter.com/zv7qkV60Wm
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 27, 2023
Leandro Trossard created more chances (2) than any other player on the pitch in the first half.
Causing trouble. ♨️ pic.twitter.com/KAu8BEeBlj
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 27, 2023
Nathan Aké’s game by numbers vs. Arsenal:
100% tackle success
91% pass accuracy
33 passes
6 x possession won
5 duels won
3 tackles made
2 clearances
1 foul won
1 block
1 shot
1 goal
0 fouls
0 x dribbled pastMatch-winning display at both ends of the pitch. 💪 pic.twitter.com/uP1RMSP7l7
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 27, 2023
Rico Lewis’ game by numbers vs. Arsenal:
85% pass accuracy
44 touches
5 x possession won
3 final third entries
3 duels won
3 tackles made
1 chance created
1 interception
1 clearanceHe made more tackles than any other player during his time on the pitch. 👏 pic.twitter.com/XFYf9qh9oj
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 27, 2023
Pep Guardiola has won more games against Arsenal (18) than any other club in his managerial career.
He’ll want to make it 20 by the end of the season. 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ZFntX5UG1D
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 27, 2023
Expert Takes & Social Media
Pep Guardiola defends Manchester City’s decision to sanction the sales of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, along with allowing Mikel Arteta to leave his post at City to become Arsenal manager 😳pic.twitter.com/AhSNp7DG1s
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 27, 2023
Beat Manchester City and Arsenal are in the #FACup final? 🤔
That’s what history suggests…
📲 Updates on the @BBCSport app#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/6AVrHxL98B
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 27, 2023
First and second in the Premier League.
Rematch of the 2017 and 2020 FA Cup semifinals.
Manchester City and Arsenal 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 face each other today for the first time this season in the FA Cup 🍿 pic.twitter.com/FLcXzOilTQ
— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 27, 2023
Arsenal vs Manchester City tonight🔥 pic.twitter.com/jOM99WfZTA
— Troll Football (@Troll_Fotballl) January 27, 2023
If we win it’ll be brilliant. If we lose people will moan, but then we’ll all be laughing when they’re trying to cram fixtures into April for city and they’re playing every 48 hours. Genuinely feels like a game where the worst case scenario in terms of result still isn’t so bad
— YankeeGunner (@YankeeGunner) January 27, 2023
Arteta not going full strength. Can’t fault him for that. All I want is a respectable performance.
— Sash ~ (@ltarsenal) January 27, 2023
Arsenal have made 6 changes and still look like Arsenal
— Scott Willis (@scottjwillis) January 27, 2023
35 mins gone. At this point in this league fixture last season, Arsenal were losing 2-0 and down to 10 men.
— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) January 27, 2023
First time I’ve really seen Lewis put through the ringer in his early City career. He doesn’t tend to look this suspect defensively, all credit to Trossard and Tierney.
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) January 27, 2023
Tierney’s turn to have a moment, slicing the ball straight to Haaland.
Clear to see who the regular starters are atm…
— Ben Browning (@BenBrowning3) January 27, 2023
Manchester City and Arsenal go into the break at 0-0.#AFC had the better of the chances, but both managers will want to see an improvement in the second 45…#MCIARS | #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/Zbnvo4AbkI
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) January 27, 2023
The last time Manchester City lost after scoring first in the FA Cup?
Yep, against Arsenal 😉
📲 Updates on @BBCSounds and the @BBCSport app#BBCFootball #MCIARS pic.twitter.com/avAIMcRYPd
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 27, 2023
