Manchester City vs Salford City LIVE: FA Cup result and reaction as hosts smash eight past outmatched visitors
Man City 8-0 Salford City: James McAtee scores a hat-trick as Pep Guardiola’s much-changed side hammer their League Two opposition
Manchester City thrashed Salford City 8-0 in the FA Cup third round as they continue to look like they’ve put their unprecedented run of bad form behind them.
Pep Guardiola’s team have now won their last three matches, having previously suffered a run of just one win in thirteen games which saw them fall to sixth in the league.
League Two high-flyers Salford were hardly the toughest of foes but a much-changed home side still impressively smashed eight goals past them, with a hat-trick for James McAtee joined by two from the hugely impressive Jeremy Doku and one apiece from Nico O’Reilly, Jack Grealish and young striker Divin Mubama – who started up front to give Erling Haaland a rest.
Relive all the action from the Etihad Stadium below:
Manchester City vs Salford City LIVE
Both sides are emerging from the tunnel at the Etihad, and we’re almost underway.
Manchester City vs Salford City LIVE
Tonight is a big night for Divin Mubama, who spent last season with West Ham’s senior squad but left in the summer when his contract expired.
The 20-year-old is making his senior debut for City, having made 18 senior appearances for the Hammers, including five in the Premier League.
FA Cup results
Some news from around the grounds so far in the third round.
Plymouth Argyle have knocked out Brentford after winning 1-0 away, while Leicester beat QPR 6-2 and Liverpool won 4-0 at home to Accrington Stanley.
Chelsea beat Morecambe 5-0 at home, while Brighton won 4-0 away at Norwich and Forest beat Luton 2-0.
Other results include:
Birmingham 2-1 Lincoln City
Bristol City 1-2 Wolves
Middlesbrough 0-1 Blackburn
Bournemouth 5-1 West Brom
Exeter City 3-1 Oxford United
Robinson: “The preparations for these games are quite easy"
Ahead of the match, Salford boss Karl Robinson told the media that “the preparations for these games are quite easy because the quality of the opposition is obvious”.
“You always know that a moment of genius by one of their top players, you can find yourself getting beaten because of that,” Robinson added.
“Their movement patterns are so good that you can almost see them; at our level there’s a degree of unpredictability to get into the final third but there’s a consistency for Manchester City and these other Premier League teams that they allow you to coach a little bit more.
“There’s only one important aspect and that’s the result but when you go against a team that’s so strong and they’ve got so much quality, there is another side of winning, and that’s that we don’t let ourselves down.
“If we do all of the controllables at the weekend then in my mind my players will have won. The result will be a by-product of that, granted, but the result is always taken out of your hands by the quality of the opposition.”
Match facts
This is Salford City’s first ever appearance in the FA Cup third round. The last team whose first such game came against the reigning English top-flight champions was Scunthorpe in 1951-52 (lost 0-3 to Tottenham).
Since losing 1-0 to Wigan in the FA Cup fifth round in 2017-18, Manchester City have won their last 24 matches against sides from a lower division (across both League Cup and FA Cup) by an aggregate score of 88-12.
Guardiola: “I will be playing against my neighbourhood"
In his pre-match press conference, Pep Guardiola refused to comment on rumours surrounding potential signings, before adding that he has “lived in Salford for the past eight years so I will be playing against my neighbourhood, my home town”.
“The past six games, six clean sheets and six victories, so I have huge respect for them and what they do - the intensity - and we will take it seriously, like we always have done,” he said.
On Salford’s ownership, he added: “I saw Gary Neville. I don’t know all the other players involved but they are smart people, I’m sure of that, and when people from football run clubs they take smart decisions.”
Match facts
This is Salford City’s third meeting with Premier League opposition in all competitions, previously losing 3-0 against Everton (September 2020) and 4-0 against Burnley (September 2023).
Manchester City haven’t been eliminated at this stage of the FA Cup since 2011-12, when they lost 3-2 at home to Manchester United. Including replays, they’ve won their last 11 FA Cup third round matches by an aggregate score of 46-4.
Pep Guardiola: I’ll leave punditry and club ownership to likes of Gary Neville
Pep Guardiola is happy to leave the worlds of punditry and club ownership to the likes of Gary Neville.
The Manchester City boss will welcome Neville to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as the champions host the former Manchester United star’s Salford team in the FA Cup third round.
Neville, who owns the League Two outfit along with other members of United’s famous ‘Class of 92’, has carved out successful careers in football punditry and business since retiring.
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