FA Cup, Bristol City 0-3 Manchester City: Foden and De Bruyne fire Citizens into quarter-finals

After Foden fired in from Riyad Mahrez’s excellent cross to put the visitors ahead early on, the Robins came close in their search for an equaliser when Sam Bell headed wide in the second half.

Bristol City’s hopes of producing a shock were soon dashed, though, as Foden’s deflected effort found the bottom corner before De Bruyne lashed in from range to put the tie beyond doubt.

Pep Guardiola’s men made it 11 consecutive away wins in the FA Cup to boost their hopes of lifting the trophy for a seventh time.

WHAT A STRIKE! ????

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— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 28, 2023

The visitors rattled the crossbar through Kalvin Phillips within the opening two minutes, but they did not have to wait too much longer to open the scoring.

Great work from Mahrez down the right ended with a pinpoint cross for Foden, who made no mistake with the back-post finish.

Nigel Pearson’s men produced a spirited response with Alex Scott testing Stefan Ortega, though Mahrez saw a volley cleared off the line at the other end as Man City took a narrow lead into the break.

The hosts continued to threaten after the break as the home crowd roared them on in hope of an unlikely upset, with Bell missing a great opportunity to level when his close-range header flew wide.

Bell was made to pay for that miss shortly after, with Foden’s low strike inadvertently helped into his own goal by Zak Vyner, and De Bruyne added a late third with a brilliant long-range drive to ensure Man City’s safe passage into the final eight.

What does it mean? Guardiola’s men sweep Robins aside

Guardiola continued his excellent record against lower-league opposition, having now progressed from 35 of his 36 domestic cup ties against sides outside of the top-flight over his time at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City.

Despite a battling display from the hosts, Guardiola’s men were full value for the win, holding over 70.2 per cent of the possession and accumulating 1.94 xG (expected goals) to 0.56 from Bristol City, who were restricted to just one shot on target.

Fabulous Foden

The Man City youth product has perhaps not had the best season of his young career, but his double here made it three goals in two games following his strike against Bournemouth in Saturday’s 4-1 Premier League victory.

Foden led his team with 10 touches in the opposition box and four chances created, providing a great attacking outlet for the Citizens.

Bell miss a huge moment

Pearson’s side responded well to Foden’s opener and looked to have Man City on the ropes a little in the second half. But Bell spurned their best opportunity of the match when he nodded wide, and the tie was put beyond their reach when Foden made it 2-0 moments later.

Key Opta Facts:

– Bristol City have been eliminated in 14 of their last 15 FA Cup ties against Premier League opponents, with their only progression in this run coming at home against Huddersfield Town in January 2019.

– Foden has been involved in 15 goals in 18 FA Cup appearances for Man City (10 goals, five assists) – since his debut in the competition in January 2019, no Premier League player has been involved in more goals in the FA Cup.

– Since the 2016-17 season, when Guardiola became Man City manager, no team have won more matches in the FA Cup (27, level with Chelsea).

– Man City have won their last 13 FA Cup games against sides from outside the Premier League, last failing to beat non-Premier League opponents in February 2018 away at Wigan Athletic, losing 1-0.

What’s next?

Man City can look forward to the quarter-final draw before they host Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday (March 4).