Man City hosted lower-ranked Plymouth at the Etihad in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Plymouth have defeated both Premier League representatives Brentford and Liverpool to reach this round.
Coach Pep Guardiola has made many adjustments to the squad to save energy for the pillars. Despite the absence of a striker, City still attack well with Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and James McAtee. The surprise happened when Maksym Talovierov headed the ball to put the away team ahead in the 38th minute.
In the first half's extra time, 19-year-old Nico O'Reilly shined to equalize for Man City, from De Bruyne's free kick.
In the second half, Man City continued to put pressure on the opponent. It was not until the 76th minute that they had their second goal thanks to O'Reilly. In the final minutes, Plymouth raised their formation, adventurously finding an equalizer.
That created space behind Haaland to exploit and the Norwegian crossed for captain De Bruyne to score to make it 3-1.
The victory helps Pep Guardiola and his team continue to nurture their hopes of winning titles this season. This is the 7th consecutive time they have reached the quarter-finals of the tournament. The quarter-final draw will take place in the early morning of March 3.
