Cardiff City 0-2 Manchester City: Match Report

Manchester City are through to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup thanks to a 2-0 win away to Cardiff City on Sunday. The Blues had a sensational first half and guaranteed the victory with a tremendous attacking performance and are moving on to the Round of 16.

FIRST HALF

Cardiff had a very good start to the game, taking it to the Blues and breaking with pace and strength. They nearly scored when Claudio Bravo struggled to control a shot from distance and had to stop the ball from going over the line, but that was the only time Cardiff had a real chance.

For the rest of the half, the Blues were incredibly dominant, scoring after just eight minutes thanks to a beautiful free-kick under the wall by Kevin De Bruyne, who bossed the midfield and constantly created chances with his passing and movement.

Bernardo Silva was great as well, and he scored a sensational goal to make it 2-0 but it was wrongly disallowed for an offside that didn’t happen. City did eventually double their lead when Bernardo played a wonderful cross to Raheem Sterling, who easily headed home another goal for the Blues.

At halftime, a fantastic performance from the Blues had them deservedly ahead. It was just about finishing the job.

SECOND HALF

The second half finally gave us a cup tie, with the hosts going forward and looking to score at least one goal to come back into the game. The Blues did a good job absorbing pressure and creating chances on the counter, but they just couldn’t find the right pass or shot to score a third and truly kill the game.

Despite not scoring a third goal the Blues eventually got the win and are through to the fifth round of the Cup. This was not as tough as expected, and the credit goes entirely to Pep Guardiola and his men for an incredible first half. This team is good.

Man City: Bravo; Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Danilo; Fernandinho, De Bruyne; Sterling, Gundogan, Sané (Agüero); Bernardo (Brahim)

Goals: De Bruyne (8’), Sterling (37’)

Cardiff: Etheridge; Richards, Morrison, Manga, Bennett; Grujic, Ralls (Damour); Mendez-Laing (Feeney), Paterson, Hoilett; Zohore (Pilkington)

Goals: None