City cruise into FA Cup quarters

London, February 17 

Manchester City powered into the FA Cup quarter-finals as the Premier League leaders survived a battling display from Newport County to beat the fourth-tier minnows 4-1 on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola’s side didn’t have an easy ride in a full-blooded fifth round tie against a team 82 places below them in League 2.

Troubled by the rutted Rodney Parade pitch, City were indebted to Ederson for a superb save to keep them level during a lacklustre first-half display. City eventually hit their stride in the second half and Leroy Sane’s powerful finish put them ahead before Phil Foden doubled the lead. Newport refused to surrender and Padraig Amond’s late goal could have set up a tense finale, only for Foden to net again 79 seconds later before Riyad Mahrez wrapped up the win.

“It was a really tough game. We opened the scoring in the game and believed it was done. They showed us how incredible they are,” Guardiola said. “The home crowd was amazing, winning here, I understand English football today better than ever and how tough the cup is in these conditions.”  

With their Champions League last-16 first leg against Schalke to come on Wednesday, followed by the League Cup final against Chelsea, Guardiola made seven changes to the side which hammered Chelsea 6-0 last weekend. “You play League 2 then Champions League. You have to adapt and change mentality and that means a lot to grow like as a team. The big mistake is believing you are better than anyone,” Guardiola said. “It is a mistake, like United are praised and better than PSG, but you see what happened. You have to be calm and prepare well.”  

The gulf between the clubs is enormous, with Newport’s squad costing just £50,000 and City’s totalling £450 million. — AFP