Manchester City 8-0 Salford City Review

FA CUP - 3RD ROUND

Although the opposition is at the level where it’s hard to take away too much from this performance, the confidence that the result will bring, as well as what you saw from some of the young players was encouraging. Off the pitch you saw key players rested for the Tuesday night match against Brentford, big news about Kyle Walker, and news about transfers into the club. Plenty for us to get stuck into.

MOTM: JEREMY DOKU

Other mentions include James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly

Notable Stats:

• James McAtee is the first Englishman to score an FA Cup hat-trick for Manchester City since Robbie Fowler against Scunthorpe in January 2006.

• Manchester City have scored 8+ goals in an FA Cup match for the first time since January 1933 (a 9-0 win against Gateshead).

• Jack Grealish has scored for Man City across any competition for the first time since the 16th of December 2023 against Crystal Palace.

Game Stats:

Manchester City 8-0 Salford City

• xG: 5.85 - 0.97

• xThreat: 1.98 - 1.31

• Possession: 67.7% - 32.3%

• Field Tilt: 69.9% - 30.1%

• Penalty Box Shots: 14 - 7

• Deep Entries: 19 - 8

• PPDA: 10.2 - 10.9

• High Turnovers: 2 - 4

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Here is how the two teams lined up, and most apps/sites couldn’t work out the shape of City before the match started. The back four are O’Reilly - Ake - JSP - Nunes. Both full-backs had plenty of freedom to move inside and push forward. A first start for Divin Mubama.

It was pretty clear from the first five minutes just how much space the team was going to have, with Salford not compact at all, just man-marking in the midfield, and the physical differences between the two sides.

J. Doku 8' 1-0

The caveat with all of the goals, and the performance is the quality of opposition. But there are plenty of positive actions from players across the pitch. Nunes in this goal stepped forward to win the ball in midfield, driving forward and laying off the right pass to Grealish. Good movement by Doku as well as the first-time finish. Not a spot he’s going to get often to shoot from but encouraging movement off the ball from him to get into the right position, waiting for the pass.

D. Mubama 20' 2-0

Fairly routine move for Manchester City, as Nunes makes the run into the box behind the defender, picking up the pass from Savinho and giving Mubama the tap-in. The standout part is the movement by Mubama initially to the near-post and then back behind the defender. Guardiola mentioned this post-match. It’s something we’d see from Haaland every match and it’s what gives me a lot of confidence about how far Mubama can go.

N. O'Reilly 43' 3-0 

The third goal is all about the movement on and off the ball from O'Reilly and Doku. One of the clearest examples of where Jeremy Doku wants to pass to once he beats the full-back to the byline. In previous Manchester City matches Doku has missed having a teammate get into that space. It’s not where Erling Haaland wants the ball either, as he’s finding space in the 6-yard box instead. Composed and tidy finish from O'Reilly, who had looked much more comfortable within the team this match compared to the League Cup tie against Watford.

Manuel Akanji (46’) came on for Nathan Ake at halftime, sharing the 90 with him so both of the defenders get some rest. He was moving noticeably better compared to previous matches, seeing more of Akanji stepping out to drive past the first line of pressure with the ball.

Jack Grealish (PEN) 49' 4-0

The other point about Divin Mubama that Guardiola mentioned post-match was his pressing, and that's what led to the turnover and penalty that Grealish won. Recognised that Young had come out to close off a near post shot, composed enough to pick out Grealish in the middle of the box. Although he's got work to do, there were plenty of promising signs from Mubama.

Phil Foden (55’) came on for Savinho shortly into the second half and quickly began to pull the strings as Jeremy Doku shifted out to right-wing and Grealish to the left.

J. McAtee 62' 5-0 

The first goal on the night for McAtee starts with the ball in behind for Jeremy Doku from Matheus Nunes. He could have hit that same pass sooner but waiting for a better opportunity. First-time cross into the box from Doku to pick out the nice run McAtee had made to the near-post staying in front of the defender.

J. Doku (PEN) 69' 6-0

It's small actions like in the buildup to this goal, laying off a well-weighted pass for Foden that show the improvement from Nunes as he looks more comfortable within the team. Long pass out into space from Foden to Doku, who then cuts inside and wins a penalty after handball.

J. McAtee 72' 7-0 

Usual move from City 23/24, two players drawn into Doku on the wing which opens up space inside for Phil Foden to come along the box and shoot. McAtee manages to turn that shot into a goal of his own with his touch and movement.

Mateo Kovacic (74’) came on for Jeremy Doku towards the end of the match, which was good to see on either side. Not pushing Doku to a full 90 and knowing that Kovacic has had some rest before the Brentford (A) match.

J. McAtee 81' 8-0 

As I mentioned earlier with the assist Doku provided O'Reilly, this is the type of position Grealish wants to be inside the box and the pass he's looking for. They move it across the box, O'Reilly passes into Gundo chipped out to Grealish in space, pass across the box for McAtee to finish first time.

Rest for the senior players was the biggest positive from the match, even Ake/Akanji only playing 45 minutes each. You didn’t see Haaland, Gvardiol, Lewis, Bernardo, and De Bruyne even warm up. Good for Savinho/Foden to both continue with some minutes for rhythm. All of which will help in the match against Brentford midweek. Ederson being back on the team does raise some questions about who is the starter

Refreshing performance from Jeremy Doku, attacking space on either side, making the right decisions in the final third, taking extra touches as well, and hitting crosses the first time. Important that despite not coming off the bench in the last two league matches, Doku can perform like this, and the team will need it at some point as we head into some tough games in February.

As Guardiola mentioned after the match, it wasn’t a first half that James McAtee stamped his authority on the match, and instead found it difficult to be involved. The second half showed his quality in the final third, making smart runs, finding pockets of space, and putting chances away. Similar to Gundogan 20/21 with his arrival into the box, it’ll be interesting to see if he gets more minutes or if a move is made in January.

Another performance from Jack Grealish showed there is something there for him playing in midfield, in flashes, but I don’t think it’ll be uncovered at Manchester City. It might help the club move him on, for a decent fee, and help to clear off his wages as they rebuild.

You can see why the club picked up Divin Mubama. A real handful like Delap is, makes lots of smart runs in behind, presses well, and is an option to play into directly. Didn’t have the best players in the first half to pick out his runs. Just needs to tidy up a heavy touch, and be more efficient with his hold-up play. I’d expect he’ll go out on loan for the 25/26 season.

Wasn’t top of the list for best performers but Mathues Nunes was involved in a few of the goals, as well as looking far more comfortable as part of the team. Smart and simple touches. Runs into the box from deep. Not rushing/forcing his passes.

Quite a routine match for Simpson-Pusey who had some moments where he could have been more composed on the ball instead of clearing, a big chance to score his first senior goal when Ake headed it back across the goal, but by no means a bad performance. Just did not stand out like some others, especially seeing the news of central defenders arriving in the window, it seems likely that a loan or sale will come for him in the summer.

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Moving Forward

The next round of the FA Cup (8th February) was announced yesterday following Arsenal being knocked out by Man United. For Manchester City, it’s an away trip to either Leyton Orient or Derby. Eight in League One or eighteenth in the Championship. That’ll provide another opportunity for more young players to complete full 90s, and the team to be rotated. Especially when you realize that this match takes place after Arsenal (A) on the 2nd of February and before Newcastle (H) on the 15th.

Kyle Walker seems likely to move on this window, and that it’ll happen fast this week. I don’t think it’s ideal to leave and want out midseason as a captain but it’s a move he needs to make. For him personally, and with the decline seen on the pitch. It’s just a shame his reputation will be looked down on for this, and he didn’t get the proper send-off from the fans in the stadium his career deserved. I cannot ignore how brilliant he was for the team from 2017 - 2023.

It was Nico O’Reilly that impressed me the most compared to how he looked earlier in the season (Community Shield/League Cup), and I’d like to see him start in the Premier League. Of course, during the losing run, he should have already had that chance. His temperament along with his physicality showed this match, is more than ready for it. With the idea Guardiola has of O’Reilly playing deeper, I think we just have to be patient and see how that goes. Not an easy role to learn, especially without Rodri around in training.

Abdukodir Khusanov (20) has been given the ‘here we go’ from Fabrizio Romano and is expected to have his medical early this week. A full newsletter looking into the recruit will be coming this week, in the meantime, you can check out the podcast I did with Uzbek Football over on the 9320 player linked below. 👇

There are also strong links to Omar Mamoush (Frankfurt) and Vitor Reis (Palmeiras), deals expected to be done in the next week or so, and the club is not done there. They are targeting more players. Once a deal gets done you can expect to see a newsletter on the new signing to follow within a couple of days after. The same for any outgoings.

Next up for Manchester City is Brentford (A) on Tuesday 14th January 19:30. Brentford lost to Plymouth (0-1) this weekend. A preview of the game will be published on Tuesday morning.