Manchester City eliminate Arsenal from FA Cup
Sports Desk, Jan 27 (EFE).- One goal proved to be all Manchester City needed Friday to eliminate Arsenal from the FA Cup and book their spot in the round of 16.
The first meeting of 2022-2023 between the Premier League-leading Gunners and the defending champions is the marquee match of the fourth round of the world’s oldest national soccer competition.
Though the sides are separated by just 5 points in the table, Arsenal entered Friday’s cup tie at the Etihad in much better form than Pep Guardiola’s men.
But the hosts extended their winning streak against Arsenal to six and former Guardiola assistant Mikel Arteta will have to wait for a second victory against his old boss.
The visitors started aggressively and generated most of the chances in the first half.
Takehiro Tomiyasu forced a save from Stefan Ortega in the 4th minute and Leandro Trossard tested the City goalkeeper in the 21st. The closest the home side came to threatening was a Kevin de Bruyne effort that went just wide in the 25th minute.
As the match approached the hour mark, Guardiola replaced Riyad Mahrez with World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, pairing the Argentine with scoring machine Erling Haaland.
And the move bore fruit in the 64th minute, when a blast from Alvarez bounced off the post and the ball rolled to Jack Grealish, who pulled it back for the onrushing Nathan Ake, whose low shot beat Gunners keeper Matt Turner to make it 1-0.
Arteta turned to his bench in search of an equalizer, sending in Gabriel Martinelli, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard, but City displayed sound game management. EFE
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