(Football news) Manchester City beat Arsenal 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium in the FA Cup. City fielded a very strong XI apart from the goalkeeper spot. Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo were once again left out as was Bernardo Silva. Teenager Rico Lewis once again got the nod at right back while Manuel Akanji and John Stones were preferred over Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Diaz. Arsenal on the other hand benched Aaron Ramsdale, Oleksandr Zinchenko, William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Ben White which clearly suggested that they were prioritising the league and rightly so. 

The game started with both teams showing attacking intent with some great plays. John Stones was subbed off just before half time due to an injury and was replaced by Aymeric Laporte. The first half was pretty even as both teams looked dangerous while attacking and it looked like a contest between two top teams. The only goal of the match came in the 64th minute as Nathan Ake playing at left back scored with a sublime finish after being set up by Jack Grealish to give Manchester CIty the lead. Arsenal didn’t manage to score but they had a good game. Leandro Trossard on his first start looked incredible which is incredible news for Mikel Arteta.

Now the two teams have a week until they get back to the Premier League title race. Despite being knocked out Arsenal will be happy with their performance. Erling Haaland was neutralized by the Gunners throughout the game which hasn’t happened much this season. Arsenal are pushing to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton which will be a very good addition to the sqaud. Manchester City just need to keep things simple going forward. They have 2 games against Arsenal in the league so they are pretty much still in contention for the Premier League.

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