Nathan Aké the hero as Manchester City seal narrow win to break the curse.

Saturday 27 January 2024

Emirates FA Cup, round 4, Game 4

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 782 High Rd, London N17 0BX

 

Nathan Aké the hero as Manchester City seal narrow win to break the curse.

Nathan Aké celebrates after scoring the winner on 87 minutes.

MATCH PREVIEW:

The tie of the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur welcome holders Manchester City to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, for the FA Cup Round of 32 tie, where the Cityzens have not had a good time. They are winless in their past 6 visits to North London against the Lilywhites, and they have also not scored at all. The last time these two met at this stadium, it was Harry Kane who netted his milestone goal last year to seal a narrow 1-0 victory, despite Cristian Romero receiving two bookable offences to be sent off. Now, this is different. It is 2024, and both teams are in good form coming into this game. Manchester City scraped past Newcastle at St James' Park, thanks to Oscar Bobb's last-gasp winner, courtesy of the returning Kevin De Bruyne to the team as they won 3-2 to keep their unbeaten run alive. Whereas, hosts Spurs, shared a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford as Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur scored to cancel out goals from Rasmus Højlund and Marcus Rashford.  Having spent the winter break by training and vacation, which of these two teams will book their spot in the Round of 16 of the FA Cup? Can Manchester City break their winless & goalless run here, or will Spurs continue to dominate?

TEAM NEWS:

There is one change for the hosts from their 2-2 draw against Man United, with Dejan Kulusevski back into the team in place of Oliver Skipp, with the Swede returning from illness that ruled him out from the clash at Old Trafford last Sunday. The big news was that James Maddison is back on the bench alongside new signing from Italian side Genoa, Radu Dragusin.

There are two changes for Manchester City from their last-gasp victory at Newcastle, with second-choice GK Stefan Ortega and academy graduate Oscar Bobb starting in place of Ederson and Jeremy Doku, with the Brazilian international back on the bench after recovering from the knock he suffered against Newcastle. John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne are amongst the substitutes named. Erling Haaland is "close" but not ready as he continues his training from injury.

KICK-OFF: FIRST HALF

Off we go in North London, with Manchester City starting the game. The pressure is building, and on 5 minutes, the visitors thought they had scored on their 101st attempt, but only for the flag to go up against young Oscar Bobb. He swept in the follow-up shot after home GK Vicario saved Phil Foden's shot from Kyle Walker's cross, but it was marginally ruled out due to offside.

And after that scare, both teams showed high pressing and good defending throughout the game. Although, chances did come for both teams following all the opening exchanges between the two sides. With shots blocked and corners and everything taken, there was nothing that can separate the two teams at the break. GOALLESS AT THE BREAK. Both teams will hope to gain advantage at the start of the second half.

KICK-OFF: SECOND HALF

 Spurs kick-off the second half, knowing that, a goalless draw will lead to a replay at the Etihad Stadium where they stole a point off Manchester City in a 3-3 draw in Decemeber. After the opening exchanges in the second half, Pep blinks first and he throws in his first 2 subs. Jérémy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne replace Oscar Bobb and Julian Álvarez for the final 20 minutes of the game.

Kevin De Bruyne replaces Julian Álvarez as he comes on for his 3rd appearance of 2024.

On 73 minutes, it was Ange Postecoglou's turn to throw in his subs, with Oliver Skipp and the returning James Maddison replacing Brennan Johnson and Rodrigo Bentancur.

There was a standing ovation for James Maddison as he comes on as a sub for Bentancur.

It was a warm welcome back for the former Leicester City midfielder, can he produce a moment of magic for his team?

And on 82 minutes, a massive chance goes begging for City. After Phil Foden robbed Romero to win the ball, he found De Bruyne, but he dragged his shot way too wide of the post! WHAT A CHANCE FOR MAN CITY TO LEAD LATE ON!! How costly is that miss going to be? 

Vicario watches De Bruyne's effort go wide on 82 minutes.

And now, it is a corner for Manchester City with only 4 minutes to play, after De Bruyne's attempt was blocked. And eventually, Manchester City took the lead with 3 minutes to play. In from De Bruyne, good pressure from Dias, and it is there to finish, and in by Nathan Aké!!! ONCE AGAIN, IT IS THAT MAN, NATHAN AKÉ!! SCORES FROM CLOSE RANGE, TO GIVE THE VISITORS THEIR FIRST GOAL AT THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM, WITH ONLY 2 AND HALF MINUTES TO PLAY!

Aké pounced from close range, after Guglielmo Vicario failed to deal with De Bruyne's corner.

WILD CELEBRATIONS FOR THE 9,000 CITY FANS!! Could this moment, put Manchester City into the FA Cup Round of 16? Amidst all of the drama, Vicario was booked for his protests against Aké's goal from the corner

Vicario, Udogie, Højbjerg and Richarlison are seen arguing with referee Paul Tierney, and Man City defenders, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias.

And with added time of 5 minutes, Manchester City then held on until the final minute of added time with Doku and former City fullback Pedro Porro in the book for their arguement following a corner from City.

AND THAT IS THAT!! MANCHESTER CITY HAVE DONE IT! THEIR FIRST WIN AT THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM AT THE 6TH TIME OF ASKING! City end Spurs' hopes of winning a trophy, and they will wait for their 5th round opponents next week.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Nathan Aké & Mateo Kovacic

How brilliant has the 28-year-old CB been in today's performance? Very good defending from the Dutchman and he did score the winner on the 87th minute for Manchester City.

This has to be the Croatian's standout performance today. Dominated the midfield alongside Rodri, making good forward runs and creating plenty of chances by taking shots. By far, his best performance in  Man City colours.