Defending champions Manchester City progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday night.
FA Cup
Result: Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle United
Date: 16 March 2024
Venue: Etihad
Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic come into the side to replace Julian Alvarez and Kevin de Bruyne, while Stefan Ortega takes his place between the sticks in place of Ederson.
The home side got the opening goal after 13 minutes when Rodri did well to pick out Bernardo Silva, who weaved his way into the box before firing home via a deflection.
It even better for Silva in the 33rd minute when he was afforded time and space to unleash a shot that took another deflection and wrong-footed Matt Dubravka.
Newcastle, meanwhile, just could not get going in the first half as they had to wait until the 36th minute for a shot at goal, with Alexander Isak forcing a good save out of Ortega at point-blank range.
City had a couple more chances to extend their advantage just before the halftime break, with Doku being denied by a couple good blocks in the box as the hosts went into the break with a two-goal lead.
It was more of the same in the second period, but it was Erling Haaland being frustrated as the Norwegian striker passed up a couple good chances in the opening ten minutes.
Newcastle coach Eddie Howe responded with a quadruple change for the final 30 minutes, as Miguel Almiron, Lewis Hall, Sean Longstaff and Elliot Anderson were introduced to help improve the situation.
However, the flurry of changes did not to improve the scoreline for the Magpies who struggled to get any clear openings at Ortega's goal as the second half continued.
As for City, the game had been wrapped up in the closing stages as they saw out the rest of the game with ease to seal a spot in the final four.
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