Manchester City advanced to the FA Cup semi-final after securing a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.
A brace from Bernardo Silva was enough for Pep Guardiola’s super team to negotiate their way past the Magpies, but there was a large stroke of luck with both goals.
Before kick-off, Eddie Howe had an ace up his sleeve, or better yet an element of surprise for Guardiola and co. Howe deployed a new system on Saturday evening, occasionally limiting the hosts but failing to secure just the second-ever win for Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium in nearly two decades.
City’s goals in the first half both came from Bernardo Silva, benefiting from fortunate deflections that left Martin Dubravka helpless.
Manchester City dump Newcastle out of the FA Cup
As mentioned previously, the hosts’ goals were accompanied by a significant stroke of luck, as described by Alan Shearer, who was on pundit duty for the BBC, labeling them as ‘flukey’.
He said: “City have been much the better team, they’ve scored two flukey goals but they’ve deserved it.”
After Coventry City dramatically defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers in stoppage time earlier in the day, the Citizens and Coventry City will sit back and find out their opponents in the FA Cup semi-final as Chelsea vs Leicester City, and Manchester United vs Liverpool play on Sunday afternoon.