Man City 5-0 Huddersfield: Player ratings as holders reach FA Cup fourth round

Phil Foden scored twice as Manchester City overpowered Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup third round at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Terriers held out for half an hour before Foden finished from an acute angle, with Julian Alvarez smartly doubling the lead soon after.

Ben Jackson's own goal made it 3-0 shortly after Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku made their returns from injury. Foden placed in the fourth from the edge of the area before Doku slammed in De Bruyne's cross.

How the game unfolded

Pep Guardiola made five changes from the side that beat Sheffield United in late December, with Stefan Ortega, Ruben Dias, Sergio Gomez, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb coming into the starting XI.

Visitors Huddersfield gave a debut to on-loan midfielder Alex Matos, recently signed from Chelsea, while fellow new arrival Bojan Radulovic was named on the bench.

Darren Moore's team were well organised in the opening exchanges, defending deep and trying to spring on the counter-attack, though their efforts going forward were largely snuffed out as the hosts kept them pinned in without creating too many chances.

Guardiola was also forced into another tactical switch when Manuel Akanji was injured early on, bringing on Matheus Nunes as Rico Lewis dropped into right-back.

Jack Grealish had plenty of possession as he probed down the left and the opener eventually came when he found Mateo Kovacic, whose piercing pass picked out Julian Alvarez in space. His ball in hit Foden, who adjusted well and fired past Lee Nicholls.

The dogged resilience Huddersfield had shown wilted a few minutes later as City bagged another to take complete control.

Substitute Nunes combined quickly with Foden to scamper to the byline where he picked out Lewis, whose scuffed effort dribbled to Alvarez to instinctively prod in.

Town hadn't shown enough threat in the first half to begrudge City a 2-0 half-time lead, with the task switching from causing an upset to avoiding a rout. However, there would be no stopping last season's treble winers as they powered their way to a 5-0 win.

City made it three just before the hour mark as a raking pass found Matheus Nunes. Some smart control from the Portugal international helped it on to Oscar Bobb, whose effort deflected off Jackson and into the back of the net.

Just before that goal, Guardiola introduced De Bruyne for his first game since August after recovering from a hamstring injury, while Doku was in action having last been seen in the 3-3 draw with Tottenham.

Foden ensured all eyes stayed on him with a brilliant finish to make it a thrashing, arriving onto Kovacic's flick to place a strike from the edge of the area into the bottom corner.

The scoring eventually ended when Bobb slid in De Bruyne down the right. The Belgian's clipped cross found compatriot Doku waiting to power in on the half-volley, putting the finishing touches on a comprehensive afternoon's work for City.

Manchester City player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Stefan Ortega - 6/10 - Made a handful of simple saves on a quiet afternoon.

RB: Manuel Akanji - 6/10 - Had his involvement cut short by an injury sustained from a hefty challenge.

CB: Ruben Dias - 7/10 - Was never truly in danger, always looking for more dominant whenever a Huddersfield attacker tried to make inroads. Completed 165 of 167 passes.

CB: Josko Gvardiol - 7/10 - Similarly to Dias, always looked assured with little threat posed.

LB: Sergio Gomez - 6/10 - Did well enough on this rare outing, taking on a couple of shots, though not enough to start getting more minutes when it matters.

CM: Rico Lewis - 8/10 - Dropped into right-back after Akanji went off but still found himself high up the pitch in central areas. Got an assist for Alvarez's strike and helped City ping the ball around outside Huddersfield's box. Created four chances.

CM: Mateo Kovacic - 8/10 - Whenever City did lose possession, Kovacic was quickly on the scene to correct things. Nice flick assisted Foden's second.

RW: Oscar Bobb - 7/10 - Often looked to jink through Huddersfield's deep block with varying levels of success. Still an entertaining watch.

AM: Phil Foden - 9/10 - Showed quickness of thought to belt City ahead and added a second with a composed strike. Ran the show.

LW: Jack Grealish - 7/10 - Saw lots of the ball early on and kept dragging his opposite number into uncomfortable areas.

ST: Julian Alvarez - 8/10 - Thumped the ball to Foden to put City ahead and poked in the second soon after.

Substitutes

SUB: Matheus Nunes (18' for Akanji) - 7/10 - Made probing runs into the box, most notably for Alvarez's strike and Jackson's own goal.

SUB: Jeremy Doku (57' for Grealish) - 8/10 - Showed his incredible pace on the wing and ventured into the box to score the fifth.

SUB: Kevin De Bruyne (57' for Alvarez) - 8/10 - Made his return to much applause at the Etihad. An easy game to come back in for but showed some trademark runs and got an assist.

SUB: Jacob Wright (75' for Kovacic) - 7/10

SUB: Micah Hamilton (76' for Foden) - 7/10

Subs not used: Ederson, Nathan Ake, Rodri, Kyle Walker.

Manager

Pep Guardiola - 7/10 - 5-0 in the FA Cup is par for the course for Man City in the third round, but Guardiola will be happy his returning stars got straight into the action.

Player of the match - Phil Foden (Manchester City)

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