Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup by hammering Huddersfield Town at the Etihad Stadium. Two goals by Phil Foden were added to by Julian Alvarez, Oscar Bobb and Jeremy Doku.
As an added bonus, the blues welcomed back midfielder Kevin de Bruyne from injury, and the Belgian star made an immediate impact, setting up Doku for City’s fifth of the afternoon.
City were still without Erling Haaland for the match. Although the Norway striker is back in training, manager Pep Guardiola didn’t risk the striker, particularly with a difficult trip to Newcastle at the weekend. Kalvin Phillips and Bernardo Silva were both ill and John Stones missed the match through injury.
What Happened
The visitors were expected to throw 11 men behind the ball, anticipating the blues having the lion’s share of possession. That turned out to be the case and for a while, City struggled to break down the well-organised defensive wall that sat in front of them. A combination of goalkeeping and desperate defending prevented the blues from scoring, which gave The Terriers hope of springing a huge shock.
That tactic worked until the 33rd minute when Foden blasted the blues into the lead. Good work down the City left saw Alvarez released inside the penalty area and his ball across was collected by Foden, who rifled the ball into the back of the goal.
That seemed to break Huddersfield’s resistance as four minutes later, Alvarez continued his rich goal-scoring vein, poking home from six yards after a good move involving Matheus Nunez and Rico Lewis. Nunes was released by Foden and his cross was tapped on by Lewis to Alvarez, who beat the keeper when the ball rolled slowly over the line.
2-0 became 3-0 in the 58th minute and came as a result of excellent work by Nunes, and an almost sublime finish by Bobb. The Portugal star beat the offside trap to run clear, before setting up the Norwegian winger. His first-time shot looked to have chipped the keeper, but replays show it came off Ben Jackson and went as an own goal.
Nevertheless, it was a good effort by the youngster, who mixed style with composure to produce such a finish.
The goal came a minute after the introduction of de Bruyne, who made his first appearance since the opening day of the season, when he went off injured against Burnley. The midfielder was given a rapturous welcome by the faithful.
in the 65th minute, City produced the move of the match as Foden made it 4-0. A City corner was worked into the box and Mateo Kovacic neatly flicked the ball into Foden’s path. The England man’s first time shot found the bottom corner and City were 4-0 up.
There was still time for a fifth and it was de Bruyne who marked his return with an assist, picking out Doku to finish. The Belgian was released by Bobb and his cross found his international teammate, and Doku finished in style to make it 5-0.
Summary
In the end, it finished pretty much as expected, with the blues dominating possessions and picking the Terriers off at will. At 2-0, the chant of ‘we want ten’ went up, invoking memories of that amazing day in 1987, when the blues thumped the terriers. Had Haaland and Alvarez started, it may well have ended up like that, but the holders will be happy to have made it to the fourth round.
Final Score: Manchester City 5-0 Huddersfield Town