MANCHESTER CITY 4 ‘WE’RE
PORT VALE 1
PLUCKY Port Vale’s dreams of an FA Cup shock against the might of holders Manchester City were raised by a Tom Pope equaliser – but dashed minutes later.
Tom Pope had sent Vale fans into ecstasy with a brilliantly executed headed equaliser – but City crushed the League Two club’s ambitions with goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Sergio Aguero and 17-year-old Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Phil Foden added a fourth, but, by then, the damage had been done.
For Vale’s celebrity fan Robbie Williams, it was a case of Take That.
City manager Pep Guardiola said: “When Port Vale get contact with Tom Pope and run, they are a danger. In the second half, we created a lot of chances, so we are in the next round.”
And in a nice gesture, he invited the Vale players into the home dressing room, saying: “It is a pleasure when these teams can be alongside our players and why this country and this competition is so special.”
Just 15 seconds into the game, Scott Burgess had the opportunity to stun Guardiola’s side as Vale raced out of the starting blocks.
They confidently swept upfield and Pope neatly set up Burgess, who, with a surprising amount of time and space inside the area, saw his effort ricochet off a relieved Zinchenko.
The Ukraine international then made his presence felt at the other end.
He fired City into a 19th-minute lead, easing the tension for Guardiola, who had been pacing the technical area with growing frustration with his side only playing in spurts.
Zinchenko, given licence to advance, accepted a short pass from the busy Ilkay Gundogan and buried a fierce strike past keeper Scott Brown with some help from a deflection off the outstretched leg of Valiants skipper Leon Legge.
David Silva somehow contrived to slice a shot from inside the six-yard box against the bar after Gundogan had done all the hard work, wriggling to the byline and crossing low towards the far post. Aguero failed to pounce on the rebound.
Then came the moment the 8,000 travelling
Port Vale fans had been dreaming of ever since the third-round draw was made.
David Amoo galloped down the right flank and his cross was made to measure for Pope, who span away
MAN CITY PORT VALE 10 ....... Shots on Target .......... 1 6 ........ Shots off Target .......... 1 7 .......... Blocked Shots ............ 1 9 ................ Corners .................. 1 6 .................. Fouls .................... 5 4 ............... Offsides ................ 0 66 ........... Possession ........... 34 62 ......... 1st Half Poss . ......... 38 66 ........ 2nd Half Poss . ........ 34 from his marker, teenager Harwood-Bellis, to send a header past Claudio Bravo.
This was the same Pope who had mocked Harwood-Bellis’ more experienced central defensive partner John Stones in a tweet insisting that, if he played against him every week, he would score 40 goals in a season. Well, this one at the Etihad will do for now for the 34-year-old, who has become his club’s talisman. City were