Manchester City were poor in their FA Cup win over Salford but an own goal was added to late on by substitute Marc Guehi.
Manchester City are through to the FA Cup fifth round after a dismal home win over League Two Salford City. An early cross from Rayan Ait-Nouri was inadvertently pushed into the net by Salford’s Alfie Dorrington but the Blues failed to stamp their authority on the game beyond that despite enjoying the vast majority of possession.
Salford twice went close to beating James Trafford and could feel hard done by that they did not get more out of a game where they posed a significant threat. Pep Guardiola brought Rodri, Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly on in the second half in an attempt to turn the game back in City’s favour.
It worked, with a set-piece won by Semenyo ending with Guehi putting it in the back of the net. Here are the player ratings from the Manchester Evening News.
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Trafford: Had to be alert to tip over Woodburn’s effort at the end of the first half. 7
Alleyne: Slid across well to cover for an error from Stones and was unfortunately injured as he did. 6
Khusanov: Some sensible play to keep City safe at the back as they threatened to creak. 6
Stones: Looked incredibly rusty on his first start for nearly three months, caught out on a number of occasions. 5
Ait-Nouri: Started brightly and made the first goal, but struggled to stay involved as play stayed on the other flank. 6
Gonzalez: City had bags of possession, especially in the first half, but he couldn’t keep a handle on the midfield. 5
Reijnders: Particularly poor on the ball, making too many bad decisions to see any promising City attacks fade away. 4
Foden: Just as culpable, failing to find the spaces and create in the final third until he was hooked after an hour. 4
Lewis: Pulled back to right-back after Alleyne’s early injury but was still unable to make an impact on the game. 5
Cherki: It has felt a surprise at times in recent weeks that he hasn’t started, but if he plays like this the next benching won’t be. 5
Marmoush: Unlucky that he was incorrectly ruled offside when he scored a wondergoal, but he was offside far too often otherwise. 5
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Substitutes
McAidoo (for Alleyne, 21) Couldn’t have the joy that he had against Exeter but put a shift in. 6
Guehi (for Stones, 65) Got the goal to make the game safe. 7
Semenyo (for Foden, 65) Gave City a threat they hadn’t had. 7
O’Reilly (for Ait-Nouri, 65) Made his presence felt in defence. 7
Rodri (for Gonzalez, 75) Solid. 6
Not used: Donnarumma, Dias, Nunes, Samba
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![Heathrow has said passenger numbers were 60% lower in November than before the coronavirus pandemic and there were “high cancellations” among business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas for Christmas as Omicron spreads. The UK’s largest airport said the government’s travel restrictions had dealt a fresh blow to travel confidence and predicted it was likely to take several years for passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels. This week ministers said passengers arriving in the UK would have to take a pre-departure Covid test, as well as a post-flight test, because of fears about the spread of the new variant. “[The] high level of cancellations by business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas because of pre-departure testing shows the potential harm to the economy of travel restrictions,” the airport said in an update. Heathrow said the drop in traveller confidence owing to the new travel restrictions had negated the benefit of reopening the all-important corridor to North America for business and holiday travel last month. Eleven African countries have been added to the government’s red list, requiring travellers to quarantine before reuniting with families. “By allowing Brits to isolate at home, ministers can make sure they are reunited with their loved ones this Christmas,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow. “It would send a strong signal that restrictions on travel will be removed as soon as safely possible to give passengers the confidence to book for 2022, opening up thousands of new jobs for local people at Heathrow. Let’s reunite families for Christmas.” Heathrow said that if the government could safely signal that restrictions would be lifted soon, then employers at Heathrow would have the confidence to hire thousands of staff in anticipation of a boost in business next summer. The airport is expecting a slow start to 2022, finishing next year with about 45 million passengers – just over half of pre-pandemic levels. This week Tui, Europe’s largest package holiday operator, said it expected bookings for next summer to bounce back to 2019 levels. However, Heathrow said on Friday not to expect the aviation industry to recover for several years. “We do not expect that international travel will recover to 2019 levels until at least all travel restrictions (including testing) are removed from all the markets that we serve, at both ends of the route, and there is no risk of new restrictions, such as quarantine, being imposed,” the airport said.](https://wordupnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/shutterstock_1100012546-scaled-400x240.jpg)
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