Foden hits double as Newport dream sinks in the mud
There are many top teams who have found themselves undone by the FA Cup alchemy of a muddy pitch and a spirited collection of lower league footballers pursuing the impossible dream, but not Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions – who were ruthless to the end last night.
The great Newport County Cup run of 2018-2019 is over, but it took a side picked from one of the most talented group of players assembled in the history of British football to end it, and they did so having taken nothing for granted. Afterwards, Newport County manager Michael Flynn, whose side have eliminated Leicester City and Middlesbrough, said the greatest respect Guardiola had paid his club was picking a team as strong as the one he brought to Rodney Parade.
It was played on a pitch worse than the lawns in most Premier League footballers’ back gardens, and there were brief moments when City came under the kind of aerial attack from set-pieces that Newport specialise in.
But Guardiola said that he loved the experience, from the Newport crowd’s faux-hostility to the different style of opposition that his players had to deal with. They are alive on all fronts: in the FA Cup quarter-finals; first in the league; playing in the League Cup final next Sunday, and resuming the Champions League on Wednesday.
City were pushed over the line by Phil Foden, who scored two splendid second half goals and seemed to enjoy the challenges posed by playing the team 15th in League Two. As the pitch disintegrated quicker than a digestive biscuit, so City’s great players adapted to its unpredictability, and their mastery of the ball, even in these conditions, was spectacular at times.
“Football is not always playing on the big stages,” Guardiola said. “It is not always about playing on good surfaces. The draw is away [from home] and you have to adapt. It can only help us to be a better team. We can play at home against Chelsea and then come here for a different kind of test. For the way we have to play, for the atmosphere, for everything. We respect the competition and this kind of game helps us.”
He added that any team coming here who had not prepared for the challenge were putting themselves in grave danger of losing, and he had no intention of going the same way as Leicester and Middlesbrough. There was a temptation for Newport to wonder whether it could have been different had Tyreeq Bakinson managed to score with a header from close range on 15 minutes, but the likelihood is that City would have got there in the end anyway.
On that occasion, Ederson, the Brazilian goalkeeper, who has probably played on beaches with a firmer surface than his Rodney Parade goalmouth, rushed across and swiped the ball away. Later, Guardiola, in praising Flynn’s approach, observed there are many good managers at this level of the game but “unfortunately for them they don’t have the players I have”. He was not denigrating his opponents, just stating a matter of fact.
With Fernandinho and Foden protecting the back four it was always going to be difficult for Newport to get at City, and the home team’s goal eventually came from a long ball over the top. Substitute Aymeric Laporte misjudged the flight and Padraig Amond nipped into to lob Ederson, his fifth FA Cup goal of the season – one in every round. For a few brief moments, with two minutes of regulation time to be played, it was 2-1, then Foden and Riyad Mahrez scored to extinguish all remaining hope of a comeback.
When the dust had settled it had been a good day for Foden, whose two goals demonstrated just how quickly the 18-year-old’s feet move and how well he dribbles the ball. “The only problem Phil has is that he has to compete for a place with Kevin [De Bruyne], [Ilkay] Gundogan, David Silva, Bernardo Silva,” Guardiola said. “As a player he is ready – ready to play.”
After Bakinson’s early chance City got a grip on the game and by half-time, Newport were hanging on. Sane hit the bar on 34 minutes and should have had a penalty when Mark O’Brien blocked a shot with his hand.
After half-time, the German cut in and unleashed a shot that struck the goalkeeper Joe Day square in the face and bloodied his nose. Unfortunately for Day, his nose could do no better than parry the ball, which continued its trajectory into the goal.
The second came when Foden wriggled into space and launched a low shot. After Amond’s goal briefly gave Newport hope of a comeback Foden skipped into the area, cut on to his left foot and scored a third. Mahrez got the fourth from a ball from John Stones, moved into midfield.
Asked about Guardiola, Newport manager Flynn said that it had been an honour to share a touchline with him. “He [Guardiola] has shown us respect with the team he put out, he has shown the FA Cup respect and he has shown his own fans who have travelled here respect. It doesn’t get said enough.” Newport (4-4-2) Day 5; Poole 6, O’Brien 6, Demetriou 6, Butler 6; Willmott 5, Bennett 6 (Franks 83), Bakinson 5 (Sheehan 61), Labadie 5 (Dolan 68); Matt 6, Amond 6. Subs: Townsend (g), Pipe, Marsh-Brown, McKirdy. Subs Townsend (g), Pipe, Marsh-Brown, McKirdy. Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson 6; Danilo 6, Stones 6, Otamendi 6, Zinchenko 6; Foden 8, Fernandinho 8 (Laporte 77), D Silva 7 (Gundogan 71); Mahrez 7, Jesus 5, Sane 6. Subs Muric (g), Walker, Sterling, De Bruyne, B Silva. Referee Andre Marriner (West Midlands).