MANCHESTER, England – Holders Manchester City cruised into the semi-finals of the English FA Cup thanks to two deflected strikes from Bernardo Silva that gave them a 2-0 win over a lacklustre Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.
City made five changes from the side that started last weekend’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Liverpool and still managed to make the semi-finals of the competition for the sixth season in a row as Newcastle provided little resistance.
City took the lead in the 13th minute when a Silva shot took a wicked deflection off Newcastle defender Dan Burn, wrong-footing keeper Martin Dubravka and sending the ball looping into the net.
The home side went 2-0 up in the 31st minute and again it was Portuguese playmaker Silva cutting in from the right and shooting, with Sven Botman’s head helping to steer the ball past Dubravka this time.
Alexander Isak almost pulled a goal back in the 36th minute but Stefan Ortega got down brilliantly to his left to keep the Swedish striker’s bouncing shot out. It proved to be Newcastle’s only effort on goal in the game.
Just after the hour mark, Eddie Howe lost patience with his stuttering side and made four substitutions and though the introduction of Miguel Almiron gave the visitors a much-needed injection of creativity in their attack, the home side quickly re-adjusted.
Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku both had a number of chances to score but manager Pep Guardiola will not be too bothered by their profligacy in front of goal as his side outclassed the visitors from start to finish.
“The team played well, we did exactly what the coach wanted us to do and we scored some nice goals, we scored some important goals, we defended well, we attacked well, so very happy,” Doku told the BBC.
“We were in control but you never know, you always have to be careful with counter-attacks… but I think the defenders did very well and we came back to help them as well,” he added according to Reuters.
Sitting in eighth place in the Championship, Coventry was the lowest-ranked team to get to the quarter-finals.
The club from central England has endured a turbulent and financially rocky past couple of decades since relegation from the Premier League in 2001 but can look forward to another trip to Wembley, where it lost the Championship playoff final to Luton at the end of last season.
It also gives Mark Robins, Coventry’s manager, another magical FA Cup moment. Robins likely saved Alex Ferguson from getting fired three years into his storied tenure as Manchester United manager by scoring the winner in an FA Cup third-round match against Nottingham Forest midway through the 1989-90 season, when Ferguson was under severe pressure.
TOTTENHAM BEATEN
Tottenham’s bid for Champions League qualification was hurt by a 3-0 loss at Fulham in the Premier League.
Rodrigo Muniz scored either side of a goal by Sasa Luki´c as fifth-place Tottenham missed the chance to climb above Aston Villa into fourth for one night at least.
Tottenham stayed six points ahead of sixth-place Manchester United and both have 10 matches remaining.
The Premier League looks increasingly likely to have five berths in next season’s expanded Champions League because of the strong showing of English teams in European competition this campaign.
RELEGATION FIGHT
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Burnley boosted its unlikely hopes of staying up with a first win in 2024 while relegation candidates Luton and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1.
Next-to-last Burnley beat 10-man Brentford 2-1 to end an 11-game winless run in all competitions and move eight points adrift of safety in its bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Jacob Bruun Larsen converted a 10th-minute penalty awarded after a push by Brentford left back Sergio Reguilon, who was sent off for the offense because he was the last man. David Datro Fofana added a second before Kristoffer Ajer reduced the deficit in the 83rd to ensure a nervy finish at Turf Moor.
Forest stayed three points above Luton, which is third-to-last and occupying the final relegation spot, after seeing its 34th-minute volley opener by Chris Wood canceled out by substitute Luke Berry.
