Manchester City faced off against Cheltenham Town at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium earlier this evening as they looked to secure a win on the road and progress into the fifth round of the FA Cup. Pep Guardiola’s men made a slow start to the game as they struggled to make the decisive breakthrough in the first half. Both teams went into the half-time interval with nothing to split them.
The home side took a shock lead close to the hour mark when Alfie May found the back of the net. However, Man City ended up getting the job done in the end via three quick-fire goals from Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Ferran Torres respectively in the final 10 minutes of the match. The contest finished with the Mancunian giants securing an impressive 3-1 victory away at Gloucestershire.
Let’s take a look at how each Man City player performed during the clash against Cheltenham.
GK: Zack Steffen – 6.5/10
He made a couple of important clearances but will be disappointed for not keeping a clean sheet during the game.
RB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis – 6/10
The English right-back was strong in the air but struggled to influence the game in the Cheltenham half.
CB: Eric Garcia – 6.5/10
The Spanish centre-half was solid at the back and did enough to limit the opposition to just one goal.
CB: Aymeric Laporte – 7/10
The Frenchman dealt with mostly everything that came his way and was excellent on the ball. Guardiola will be impressed with his performance this evening.
LB: Benjamin Mendy – 6.5/10
He was mostly untested defensively but deserves a pat on the back for giving a good account of himself in the attacking third of the pitch.
RW: Riyad Mahrez – 7.5/10
The Algerian international caused all kinds of problems for the opposition defenders and engineered multiple chances for his teammates in the decisive end of the field. He also had a couple of shots but will be disappointed for not getting his name on the scoresheet.
CM: Tommy Doyle – 6/10
Doyle had a few bright moments in the game but didn’t do enough to last the 90 minutes.
CM: Fernandinho – 7.5/10
The veteran midfielder was not shy of clearing his lines when needed and was quite creative with his ball-distribution. He ended the game with an assist to his name,
LW: Phil Foden – 9/10
The English youngster bossed the game in the Cheltenham half and was by far the best player on the field. Foden scored the all-important equaliser in the 81st minute and deserves to be named the man of the match.
ST: Ferran Torres – 7.5/10
Torres was not afraid to have a shot and put the icing on the cake with his goal in injury-time.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 8/10
The Brazilian striker worked hard to run the channels and got rewarded for his efforts with a late goal which completed the comeback for his team.
Substitutes:
CB: Ruben Dias – 6.5/10
He came off the bench and kept things tidy at the back.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 7/10
The German talent added more energy to the Man City midfield and retained possession well for his team.
RB: Joao Cancelo – 7.5/10
Cancelo orchestrated two great opportunities for his side and ended the game with an assist to his name.
