It wasn’t pretty, but Manchester City are safely through to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. The 2024 runners-up overcame a tricky assignment away from home against Bournemouth to set up a meeting with Nottingham Forest at the end of April.
It was the worst possible start for the Citizens. After being given an early penalty, Erling Haaland placed the ball on the spot. In those situations, you might think there is only going to be one result, but the Spaniard saved Haaland’s strike to the goalkeeper’s left.
It was a slightly under-hit effort from the Norwegian, who also missed a one-vs-one moments later, which he lifted over the crossbar.
The day went from bad to worse for City. Andoni Iraola’s side took the lead thanks to a goal from striker Evanilson. The Brazilian got on the end of a pull-back across the face of goal from Justin Kluivert to make it 1-0 to the Cherries.
In the second half, Haaland made amends for his missed penalty by firing home from close range after an excellent cross from Nico O’Reilly. The youngster set up City’s winner, too, playing Omar Marmoush in behind the Bournemouth defence, who tucked his effort home to win the game.
It wasn’t the best performance from Pep Guardiola’s side, but they managed to get over the line and reach Wembley. O’Reilly was a big reason why they left the Vitality Stadium with a win.
O’Reilly’s performance vs. Bournemouth
What an impressive performance it was from young O’Reilly against Iraola’s side. In many ways, there was a lot of pressure on his shoulders, coming on as a half-time substitute to change the game. However, he did just that.
The two assists the 20-year-old registered were excellent. His first for Haaland saw him receive the ball on the run from Kevin De Bruyne and drive into the space ahead of him before squaring the ball across the penalty box for the Norwegian to fire home.
For the second, O’Reilly picked up a loose ball after Antoine Semenyo’s interception fell into no-man’s land. He danced around the Bournemouth number 24 before slipping Marmoush in behind with the outside of his foot.
It was an incredibly eye-catching performance from the young City academy graduate, who was described as “unbelievable” by teammate Bernardo Silva after the game. He really stood out off the bench for Guardiola’s side.
In fact, you could certainly argue that such an impressive contribution from O’Reilly saved the blushes of one City player who was poor against the Cherries.
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Man City's biggest underperformer vs Bournemouth
If O’Reilly’s performance at the weekend was game-changing, then City’s number 27 Matheus Nunes certainly struggled. The Portuguese international once again played at right-back, but at times seemed out of his depth against the likes of Kluivert and Semenyo.
A lot of blame can certainly be placed on Nunes for the Cherries’ goal. Firstly, his misplaced pass turned possession over to the South Coast side before he allowed Kluivert to get ahead of him and meet the ball into the penalty box. The Dutchman squared it to Evanilson, who tapped home.
Simon Bajkowski, chief Man City writer for The Manchester Evening News, gave Nunes a 4/10 for his showings. He said the makeshift right-back was “abysmal” for the goal, although he did note he was “better bombing forward”.
That said, his stats via Sofascore from the game do not make for terrible reading. The 26-year-old did create two chances. However, he lost the ball 14 times, won 68% of his duels and made one error which led to the Bournemouth goal.
Touches
76
Pass accuracy
84%
Passes completed
32/38
Duels win rate
68%
Number of times ball lost
14
Chances created
2
Errors leading to goal
1
It is a big week for City now. They face Leicester City on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium in a game you would certainly expect them to win. Next Sunday is the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford, where they will be looking to get revenge on Manchester United after their win earlier in the season.
The big question is, does Guardiola trust Nunes in such an important week for their ongoing battle for Champions League football?
After his blunders this week on the South Coast, playing him in key games in a position where he seems vulnerable could be a risk, especially when the likes of Rico Lewis are knocking on the door for a starting berth, too.
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