Julian Alvarez is making a more compelling case to start regularly for Manchester City with his cameo appearances
One-nil to the champions.
Neither of these teams will define the success of their season by the FA Cup, but if the league leaders came away without suffering too many blows from another defeat at the Etihad then City will take every victory they get. A curled effort from Nathan Ake was enough to separate the teams on a night of low quality when the Premier League champions just about did enough to suggest the pretenders to their crown still have a way to go.
As much as City will hope this night eventually leads to Wembley and more silverware, they will not mind one bit if it cranks up some pressure on an Arsenal team that have soared so far this season. A night that became business as usual may well be seen on reflection as a significant moment when the guard stopped changing – and potentially an important night in Julian Alvarez’s City career.
Mikel Arteta has done a fantastic job but has not been able to stop City’s steamrollering of Arsenal – especially at the Etihad. The former Blues assistant had lost his three encounters here by an aggregate score of 9-0, worsening his record further after his sole City match in the dugout ended in a limp Champions League defeat to Lyon.
Arsenal have climbed every mountain so far this season without breaking a sweat, yet their two meetings with the champions are still to be played. Would this extra cup date have any impact?
Whether or not it will, the sting was taken out by a weakened Arsenal side that saw several key players on the bench. City went strong, soaking up even more pressure when the teams were announced as there was even more expectation of a home win.
Something remains not quite right at the Etihad though. When Guardiola said that the win over Wolves was just one good day, he was correct.
It wasn’t that anyone was terrible, but City as a collective simply didn’t look right despite having their best team on current form out on the pitch. The defence struggled to get a grip with Leandro Trossard, and the midfield spent most of their time trying unsuccessfully to run onto Erling Haaland flick-ons; if you have a big No.9 in the team, playing the ball up to him rather than making him run back would seem the more obvious tactic.
City’s uncertainty was even evident in their throw-ins. Whether it was Rico Lewis or Nathan Ake positioned to take them, where normally these dead balls are an opportunity for a team like City to find movement, here there were only stodgy pauses as the takers willed for a sign of life from their teammates.
The sight of Rodri shinning a throw-in right back into the Colin Bell Stand rather summed up a night when even the most reliable members of the team could not find their rhythm. The supporters grew as restless as Guardiola was prowling the touchline.
And while they failed to threaten the Arsenal goal beyond Matt Turner looking dodgy whenever he was pressed, it was Arsenal who had the better chances, Arsenal who looked like the team that is top of the league. In spite of their changes, the Gunners had the better of the opening hour with Stefan Ortega twice saving well in the City goal and the visitors the more confident side.
Guardiola had been forced to bring on Aymeric Laporte at the end of the first-half when he pulled his hamstring, and added Kyle Walker and Julian Alvarez before the hour mark as he searched for something different. Joao Cancelo, a substitute for the third game in a row, remained unused.
Fittingly, it was the players who the manager has exempted from his recent criticism of the team who changed the game in an instant and central to that was Alvarez. The Argentine is unencumbered by previous standards to live up to at the club by virtue of not having been here, and after so long without the team looking dangerous the 22-year-old exploded the game into life with a long-range effort that beat Turner and fizzed back off the post.
As it bounded back into play, Jack Grealish reacted quickest and while he could not get a shot away himself he recovered himself to slip the ball back for the onrushing Ake. Like a crown green bowling champion, Ake stepped up and slowly rolled a right-footed effort into the far corner.
Ake is one of the players Guardiola trusts the most, and he had another exceptional night. Having previously kept Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min quiet, the Dutchman can add the in-form Bukayo Saka to the list of players he has not given a kick to this season. Adding a goal to another stellar defensive performance topped off another excellent display.
From there, the pressure switched to Arsenal. They may have lowered expectations by making changes, but what were they going to do now they were behind? Martin Odegaard came on for Saka as one of a number of changes that included the returning Oleksandr Zinchenko getting a terrific reception, but for all City’s troubles at the minute they are still very difficult to beat when they have a lead.
Thanks to the in-game management and the helpfulness of Walker and Bernardo off the bench, City were able to see it out and book their place in the next round of the cup. For all their problems in recent weeks, victories over Liverpool, Chelsea (twice) and Arsenal in the cups is no mean feat since November.
City can take that confidence to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week (where they will need it!) and the Emirates shortly after, and as Guardiola mulls his options, if Ake is a must on the teamsheet Alvarez must certainly be playing his way there. It would create a headline whoever was left out to accommodate him, but when the team are struggling so much for rhythm they could do far worse than turn to a player who has no fear and an uncanny knack of making goals happen.
Just as Argentina found at the World Cup, so too City could discover that Alvarez can be integral to their push for success.
SOURCE: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
