Man City squeeze past stubborn Salford to reach FA Cup fifth round

Manchester City reached the fifth round of the FA Cup with a far-from-convincing 2-0 win over League Two side Salford on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed their neighbours 8-0 last season but needed an early own goal from Alfie Dorrington and a late effort from Marc Guehi to prevail on this occasion at the Etihad Stadium.

Yet City, who made nine changes for the tie, did not need to be anywhere near their best.

Dorrington’s unfortunate sixth-minute intervention robbed the contest of a lot of its intensity and City effectively went through the motions thereafter.

That did allow Salford to settle and former Liverpool midfielder Ben Woodburn forced a fine save from James Trafford before the interval.

But City were always able to keep the Ammies, who are part-owned by two former Manchester United players in Gary Neville and David Beckham, at arm’s length.

Guehi came off the bench to end any prospect of a Salford shock by pouncing on a rebound for his first goal for the club nine minutes from time. Fellow substitute Antoine Semenyo also hit the post in the closing minutes.

Excitement may have been lacking until then but City now have a full week to rest before they resume their Premier League title challenge and Guardiola will be satisfied with the overall outcome.

Top scorer Erling Haaland and captain Bernardo Silva did not even make the bench as the City boss took the opportunity to rotate his squad.

Despite the difference in personnel, after last year’s hammering, Salford must still have feared the worst when Dorrington diverted Rayan Ait-Nouri’s low cross past his own keeper.

City suffered a blow when Max Alleyne, who had started at right-back, was forced off after 22 minutes following a collision with Josh