By Daily Sports on February 17, 2019

Manchester City powered into the FA Cup quarterfinals as the Premier League leaders survived a battling display from Newport County to beat the fourth-tier minnows 4-1 on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola’s side didn’t have an easy ride in a full-blooded fifth round tie against a team 82 places below them in League Two.

Troubled by the rutted Rodney Parade pitch, City were indebted to Ederson for a superb save to keep them level during a lacklustre first-half display.

City eventually hit their stride in the second half and Leroy Sane’s powerful finish put them ahead before Phil Foden doubled the lead.

Newport refused to surrender and Padraig Amond’s late goal could have set up a tense finale, only for Foden to net again 79 seconds later before Riyad Mahrez wrapped up the win.

With their Champions League last 16 first leg against Schalke to come on Wednesday, followed by the League Cup final against Chelsea, Guardiola made seven changes to the side which hammered Chelsea 6-0 last weekend.

It was still a strong side featuring Sane, David Silva, Mahrez, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus.

The gulf between the clubs is enormous, with Newport’s squad costing just £50 000 and City’s totalling £450 million.

The average wage of Newport’s players, including some who had previously stacked shelves in supermarkets and warehouses, is around £750-a-week, while City’s stars pocket up to £250,000-per-week.

But Newport had already knocked out Premier League side Leicester and Championship outfit Middlesbrough in the previous two rounds, while City crashed out at this stage last season against Wigan.

Guardiola had warned City they would “suffer” at set-pieces against Newport’s “taller, stronger” players and the Spaniard’s fears were nearly confirmed in the 14th minute.

Failing to deal with Mickey Demetriou’s long throw, City left space for Tyreeq Bakinson and he headed goalwards from close-range, only for Ederson to dive to his right to make a brilliant one-handed save.

Bothered by the unpredictable surface, left badly damaged by two heavy use from two rugby unions teams as well as Newport, City were unable to get any momentum and another long throw ended with Joss Labadie’s lashing wide.

Mahrez couldn’t hit the target with a series of half-chances and Sane grazed the top of crossbar from an acute angle as Newport gamely reached halftime on level terms. (SuperSport)

•Photo shows Manchester City Players

Source Daily Sports

Posted February 17, 2019

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