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Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a resounding 8-0 victory over Salford City at the Etihad Stadium late Saturday evening. James McAtee, born in Salford, scored a second-half hat-trick, while Jeremy Doku netted a double. Starlets Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also scored their first goals for City, with Jack Grealish adding his first of the season.
Pep Guardiola’s side, featuring a blend of experience and youth, dominated the match from start to finish. City took the lead early on through Doku’s well-taken finish, courtesy of a beautiful break and faultless finish. Matheus Nunes won possession and charged forward before playing the ball across to Grealish, who intelligently teed up Doku to finish from a tight angle in the left channel.
Salford looked for an instant reply, with Matty Lund heading over from a lovely left-foot cross from Luke Garbutt. However, City soon doubled their advantage through Mubama’s first goal for the club. Savinho produced an intelligent ball into the path of Nunes, who crossed for Mubama to prod home.
City continued to press, with Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Nathan Ake both coming close to scoring. Simpson-Pusey didn’t get a strong enough touch after meeting Ake’s header into the box, and Kylian Kouassi cleared the ball off the line. Kouassi had a chance to reduce arrears for The Ammies but he – and the visitors – were made to pay for the wasted chance as Guardiola’s Blues bagged a third just before the break.
O’Reilly, impressing in the unfamiliar left-back role, made it 3-0 before halftime with a bullet drive from distance, courtesy of a incisive pass from Doku. Grealish won and scored a penalty shortly after the break to make it 4-0, bagging his first goal of the season.
McAtee then took center stage, scoring his first Etihad goal courtesy of a tidy finish from a classy cross from Doku. Doku scored his second of the night from the penalty spot, after a handball in the box by captain Curtis Tilt, to make it 6-0.
McAtee doubled his tally on 72 minutes with a close-range left-foot finish after meeting substitute Phil Foden’s strike from distance. McAtee completed his hat-trick on 81 minutes, much to the delight of the Etihad crowd.
The victory – City’s third consecutive win and ensured their progression to the fourth round of the FA Cup. The draw for the next round takes place on Sunday. City’s attention now shifts to Brentford in the Premier League on Tuesday, January 14.
