Six things you might have missed from Saturday’s FA Cup action as Man City avoid scare | OneFootball

Manchester City‘s quest for FA Cup glory in 2024-25 continued as they beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

It wasn’t easy for Pep Guardiola’s side, as they had to come from behind against Plymouth, who had knocked Liverpool out in the previous round.

The game at the Etihad was one of four to take place on Saturday, and one of two all-Premier League ties. There was also an all-Championship clash and a London derby between the Premier League and the Championship.

So, what went down?

Set-pieces and O’Reilly get Man City over the line

It was a game of set pieces at the Etihad between Man City and Plymouth. And it was Man City who took the win, thanks to teenager Nico O’Reilly.

Plymouth took the lead in the 38th minute thanks to Maksym Talovierov’s expert header, beating James McAtee in to the air and placing his effort into the far top corner. That was Plymouth’s first and only corner of the game.

Man City, on the other hand, had 20. But while their first goal didn’t come from a corner, it did come from a set piece. It was a free-kick out wide with Kevin De Bruyne over the ball, just before half-time. The Belgian sent in an excellent cross into the box for O’Reilly to finish with a lovely glancing header. His second senior goal for Man City, O’Reilly couldn’t celebrate this one too much as his side still have to get ahead.

But he could certainly celebrate when he scored his second header, this time from a corner. There was quite a bit of controversy surrounding the goal. Firstly, Plymouth didn’t believe it should have been a corner, and then they protested that O’Reilly had fouled his marker before heading home. Nothing could be done about the former, and VAR didn’t feel the latter was a foul.

It was a good display from the teenager, who was playing in defence once again despite being a more attacking midfielder.

An afternoon to forget for Tanganga

There was a London derby at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace hosted Championship side Millwall. And it was full of action, with Palace ending up 3-1 winners. They had a bit of help from Millwall defender Japhet Tanganga too.

The former Tottenham Hotspur centre-back was unfortunately involved in both of Palace’s first-half goals, which looked to put the tie beyond doubt early on. His first involvement was an own goal, with a mistimed/mis-placed headed clearance going into his own net. The ball into the box from Will Hughes was a good one, but Tanganga was unopposed and should have steered his header out for a corner, not into the side netting.

While that was closer to an error, there was a big stroke of misfortune for Tanganga in Palace’s second goal. This time he was just the man to essentially play in Daniel Munoz, after a poor challenge from one of his teammates rebounded off Tanganga. There was an offside check by VAR, who confirmed that it was indeed Tanganga who had the final touch — from a Millwall clearance — before Munoz.

It was a busy afternoon for Tanganga defensively, with the Millwall man winning four of his 10 aerial duels, and making six clearances.

Eddie Nketiah takes his chance

Eddie Nketiah started the win on the bench, but came on in the 15th minute for Jean-Philippe Mateta, who suffered a bad injury at the hands of Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts. Nketiah has been made to wait for game time at Palace this season since his £25million move from Arsenal, with less than 1,000 minutes across all competitions.

He has started three of Palace’s five cup games, scoring three goals. In fact, 75% of Nketiah’s goals for the Eagles have come in cup competitions. His first Premier League goal of the season only came in midweek, as Nketiah put the gloss on the 4-1 win over Aston Villa, despite playing just a few minutes.

The goal against Millwall came through sheer perseverance. Nketiah had five shots at Selhurst Park, more than any other player for each side. He was also the only player on the pitch to record more than one shot on target (two).

As you’d expect, Nketiah also led the game for Expected Goals (0.94) and xG on Target (0.82) — though obviously his shot placement could do with a bit of improvement.

Burnley’s defence take a break

It was guaranteed that there would be at least one Championship side in the FA Cup quarter-finals, it was just a matter of who. Preston North End hosted Lancashire rivals Burnley, two weeks on from their goalless draw in the league. Both sides would have fancied their chances, but on paper Preston had the tougher ask against a rigid Burnley defence.

Before the game on Saturday, Burnley hadn’t conceded in 853 minutes across all competitions, since their 1-3 away win over Reading in the third round of the FA Cup. A run of nine straight clean sheets followed, including their 0-1 away win over Southampton in the FA Cup fourth round.

In that time, Burnley had faced just 17 shots on target, with an xG of 7.87 and xGOT of 4.02. They also faced two penalties, both of which came in a goalless draw with Sunderland, both of which were obviously saved.

But Preston put three past Burnley to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1965-66. Burnley conceded as many goals in 90 minutes against Preston as they had in their previous 16 games combined.

It was a much-changed team for Burnley, but Preston were excellent at Deepdale. They boasted an xG of 1.45 and xGOT of 1.99, scoring two of their three big chances.

Matheus Cunha’s headline-making performance

What a game Matheus Cunha had against Bournemouth. The Brazilian produced two key moments in the tie at the Vitality Stadium, coming in the 60th and 120th minutes.

In the 60th minute, Cunha was the hero for Wolverhampton Wanderers, drawing them level with a wonderful strike from outside the box. It was so perfectly placed that two goalkeepers might have struggled trying to keep it out. We should have seen it coming too.

Cunha has now scored six goals from outside the box across all competitions this season, at least two more than any other Premier League player. He certainly tries his luck more than most too, with only four Premier League players attempting more shots outside the box across all competitions than Cunha’s 46.

As the game ticked towards penalties in the second half of extra time, many had Cunha down as a guarantee for the shootout. But Cunha had other ideas, turning from hero to villain. After a nothing challenge with Milos Kerkez in the middle of the pitch, both players tussled. But Cunha took his involvement too far.

The Brazilian threw a punch at Kerkez, had a kick at him on the floor and an attempted headbutt for good measure once he was up. He’ll get an automatic three-game ban, and it could cost Wolves come the end of the campaign.

Record VAR wait

The other headline in Bournemouth’s win over Wolves surrounded a goal the Cherries had disallowed in the first half. This weekend has seen the first trail of semi-automated offside in England, with seven of the eight FA Cup ties using the system. The only exception as Preston hosting Burnley, the one match not played at a Premier League ground.

It was always going to be a mixed weekend, whatever happened. But the system had possibly the worst moment it could have at the Vitality Stadium. Checking the goal for offside, it took eight minutes for VAR to make the decision, the longest wait in English football so far. The problem was that the box was too congested for semi-automated offside to work properly, alongside two handball checks.

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