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By JOE BERNSTEIN AT THE ETIHAD and NATHAN SALT AT THE EITHAD Published: 03: 00 AEDT, 2 March 2025 | Updated: 05: 58 AEDT, 2 March 2025   10 View comments Follow Mail Sport's live blog for the latest live score, team news and updates as Manchester City host Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round of the FA Cup at the Etihad. By Robert Summerscales What a goal that would have been for City. .. Bernardo Silva and James Mc Atee both take neat touches before Ilkay Gundogan drives forward brilliantly. Gundogan gets to the byline and cuts a pass back to Silva, who is denied by a smart save from Conor Hazard. That was classic City. By Robert Summerscales The second half has started very much like the first did. City are bossing the possession and pushing Plymouth back. Grealish gets in behind but his cross is deflected to safety. By Robert Summerscales Plymouth get the second half underway. They have not made any substitutions at half-time but City have brought on Ruben Dias for Nathan Ake. By Robert Summerscales That was the 174th assist of Kevin De Bruyne's Manchester City career. This may be his last season at the Etihad but he's clearly still got it! By Robert Summerscales Pep Guardiola won't be too pleased that Maksym Talovierov was able to get such a clean header on the ball when surrounded by so many City defenders. It was a very well-taken goal by the Plymouth man though and it sent the away fans into raptures. By Robert Summerscales City's players head down the tunnel with their tails up. They have been the much better side, despite Plymouth rocking the boat by scoring first against the run of play. City had 13 shots in that first half. Plymouth had just one. By Robert Summerscales What a time to score for City and what a terrible time to concede for Plymouth. Moments after denying De Bruyne with a diving stop, goalie Hazard is unable to keep out a headed effort from Nico O'Reilly, despite getting a hand to the ball. That's O'Reilly's second City goal and it was beautifully assisted by De Bruyne with a lovely free-kick delivery. By Robert Summerscales If Plymouth are to hold onto their shock lead then you suspect goalkeeper Conor Hazard is going to have to play a blinder. Well, he's just pulled off a blinding low save to prevent a Kevin De Bruyne equaliser moments before half-time. By Nathan Salt At The Eithad What did I say about breaking this down into 'mini games'? Plymouth have hung in there valiantly and have taken the chance from a set-piece to send the travelling Green Army wild. The worst thing Manchester City could do was give the underdogs something to cling on to. By Robert Summerscales Well, well, well. .. Plymouth have barely crossed the halfway line in the first 38 minutes but they lead 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium! The away side find the net with a header from their first corner (City have already had eight corners) as Maksym Talovierov gets on the end of a Matthew Sorinola cross to nod home from the edge of the six-yard box. City's players look stunned. Eight thousand travelling Plymouth fans are daring to dream. By Joe Bernstein At The Etihad Argyle boss Miron Muslic is out-pepping Pep in the technical area. Lots of hand signals, lots of vocal instructions, lots of energy. His Plymouth team have responded well. They’re still level with the reigning Premier League champions with 10 minutes left until half-time. By Robert Summerscales Plymouth have just enjoyed two fairly lengthy periods of possession (around 25 seconds each). The first saw them stroke the ball around in midfield before passing back to the keeper, who thumped it long. But the second was a flowing move from left to right that took the visitors within 20 yards of the City goal. It's a small step, but still a step in the right direction. By Joe Bernstein At The Etihad Against opponents who are more defensively-minded than City would face in the Premier League, Ilkay Gundogan has been making runs into the box from midfield like he did during his peak years of winning Premier League titles and the Treble. The German has twice come closest to breaking the deadlock, a close-range header that went over and then a terrific strike from 12 yards that hit the inside of the post having lost his marker By Nathan Salt At The Eithad Thirty minutes in and Argyle have restricted Manchester City to one credited shot on target. They'd have taken that (even if they are playing with fire here with how little of the ball they are actually seeing). By Robert Summerscales SO CLOSE! Great work by Jack Grealish sets up a chance for Ilkay Gundogan in the centre of the 18-yard box. Gundogan connects cleanly with his shot but the ball then connects cleanly with the Plymouth post! The away fans celebrate their team's fortune with sarcastic cheers. By Robert Summerscales City have had so much possession in the Plymouth half but many of their best opportunities so far have come from set-pieces. Nathan Ake has already had a couple of decent half chances at the far post from corners. Plymouth need to remain fully focussed at all times. By Robert Summerscales Grealish, De Bruyne and Silva combine to set up a headed chance for Gundogan. He nods it goalwards and the Plymouth keeper makes a tidy save. That was City's seventh shot of the game, but their first on target. By Nathan Salt At The Eithad I think if you're Plymouth Argyle you just have to break this game down into 10-minute mini-games and use that mindset to keep the clean sheet for as long as you can. They are struggling to get into City's half but have also restricted City to limited chances of real quality. The issue they've got is not having the ball for long spells is so tiring. It is going to have to be very, very efficient when they get this ball back. .. By Robert Summerscales The first chance of the game falls to Phil Foden, whose shot is deflected just wide following a short corner routine. The next corner eventually leads to a penalty appeal for a possible handball. But Craig Pawson says no. VAR says no. For what it's worth, I'm saying no too. Plymouth escape but City appear to be turning the screw. By Joe Bernstein At The Etihad Man City have opted to use Phil Foden as a false nine whilst more orthodox centre-forwards Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush are on the bench. Guardiola's plan will be to starve Plymouth of the ball and certainly the home side are dominating the early stages. Until the first goal arrives, however, Argyle will be happy to soak up the pressure and hope the imposing Mustapha Bundu can cause problems at the other end as a lone striker By Nathan Salt At The Eithad It's noticeable how animated Pep Guardiola has been so far He can often have ants in his pants, even in games City are overwhelming favourites in. He's not been impressed with how slowly his team have switched play so far - and he's made that known. By Robert Summerscales City have had almost complete exclusivity of the ball since kick-off. Plymouth have so far set up with 11 men behind the ball, deep inside their own half, when out of possession. It is so far, so good for the visitors because City have yet to register a shot. But we're only five minutes in. By Robert Summerscales Here we go. Phil Foden takes the kick-off and this FA Cup fifth round clash is underway. .. By Joe Bernstein At The Etihad Plymouth’s players have walked out to a huge ovation from eight thousand fans up in the Gods at the Etihad. All you can hear is 'Aar-gyle'. Although the Championship underdogs will be wanting to play the game, not the occasion, there was a lot waving and applause to the away support. Just to show they’re not innocent day-trippers, the Plymouth fans are booing City’s anthem 'Blue Moon'. Should be a cracking atmosphere, particularly if Plymouth can get a goal By Robert Summerscales Plymouth midfielder Darko Gyabi, currently on loan from Leeds United, previously spent four years in the Man City academy. He left the Etihad in 2022 but will today share the pitch with some of his former team-mates. Speaking on ITV, the 21-year-old just said: 'I've played with Rico [Lewis] and [James] Mc Atee. 'It's one of the best teams in the world. We have to take our chances and be ready for whatever's going to come. 'I think it's just being focused and being ready for whatever they bring. I think we have to be even better, the further you go the harder it's get. 'In a game anything can happen, so just be ready. ' By Robert Summerscales Jack Grealish starts today for only the third time in 2025. His previous two starts for City this year also came in the FA Cup. City boss Pep Guardiola was asked on ITV just now how much he wants to see Grealish make an impact today. He replied: 'A lot. It's been a difficult season. He's not an old player but the future is in his hands. ' By Nathan Salt At The Eithad Erling Haaland is enjoying himself during the warm-up, seemingly making a joke at Savinho's expense. Unsurprisingly, this is a relaxed City bunch today. But a heavily rotated Liverpool side turned up at Home Park in the last round similarly nonchalant. City are expected to win heavily - and they probably will do - but if they don't they can't say they weren't warned. By Nathan Salt At The Eithad Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic is donning a lovely beige jumper for his club's mammoth FA Cup tie here today. The expectation is that the Championship strugglers are going to be royally turned over and he may well relish everyone writing them off. From the Argyle games I've covered in recent times, they are rarely ever dull which sets us up for a great occasion By Robert Summerscales Plymouth Argyle manager Miron Muslic speaking on ITV: By Robert Summerscales Many City fans had been hoping to catch a glimpse of Argentina starlet Claudio Echeverri today but he has not made the squad. The 19-year-old signed for City in January 2024 before being loaned back to River Plate for a year. He landed in Manchester this week after captaining his country to second place at the U20 South American Championship. But today's game will not witness his City debut. City boss Pep Guardiola said on Friday: 'He arrived yesterday, he has good skills. Welcome, we're going to have him and we'll see. 'I don't know [when he plays], this is the decisive part of the season, every game is a final. ' By Robert Summerscales I count a full ELEVEN changes to the Man City starting XI following Wednesday's 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur. It's a pretty strong side nonetheless, featuring the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden. The bench is packed with star power too, with Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Omar Marmoush all on standby. By Robert Summerscales Plymouth XI: Hazard, Tavolierov, Katic (captain), Pleguezuelo, Mumba, Boateng, Gyabi, Ogbeta, Sorinola, Wright, Bundu Subs: Grimshaw, Houghton, Szucs, Edwards, Al Hajj, Puchacz, Baidoo, Roberts, Palsson By Robert Summerscales Man City XI: Ortega; Lewis, Reis, Ake, O’Reilly, Gundogan, De Bruyne (captain), Mc Atee, Bernardo, Grealish, Foden Subs: Ederson, Dias, Marmoush, Haaland, Doku, Nico, Gvardiol, Savinho, Nunes By Robert Summerscales Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaking to reporters ahead of today's game: By Robert Summerscales Manchester City have an incredibly dominant FA Cup record in recent years when it comes to playing teams from outside of the Premier League. Since losing 1-0 at Wigan in 2018, City have won their last 18 ties against teams from below the top tier. Those 18 victories - including an 8-0 thrashing of Salford in January - can be combined to make an aggregate score of 69-9. By Robert Summerscales Today's game will be the 20th competitive meeting between Manchester City and Plymouth Argyle. But these two teams have not met since 1989 when they were both in the old Division Two, now known as the Championship. City have won 10 of their first 19 games against Plymouth, losing five and drawing four. By Robert Summerscales Like at other stadiums this weekend, semi-automated offside technology will be in operation for this game. In theory, this should help the officials make the correct calls much quicker. It's not been working very well at the Vitality Stadium so far this afternoon though, so we might need a little patience! By Robert Summerscales Plymouth have sold 7, 800 tickets for today's game, meaning almost 15% of the seats at the Etihad Stadium will be occupied by away fans. The majority of those fans are wearing their team's colours, meaning there is currently a sea of green in and around the ground. I've already spotted three tin foil FA Cups too. By Robert Summerscales Having already pulled off one giant-killing in this season's FA Cup by knocking out Liverpool, can Plymouth repeat the feat by seeing off Man City? Of course, it is very unlikely. However, the Devon side are in much better shape now than they were in the first half of the season. A terrible start to the campaign left them rooted to the bottom of the Championship and staring relegation squarely in the face. Relegation to League One remains a strong possibility but now so does survival after Plymouth's recent upturn in form. That win over Liverpool last month was sandwiched either side of victories over West Brom and Millwall, while they have also recently taken points off Luton and Cardiff. They are now only three points from 21st place. But today is all about the FA Cup. Plymouth's last trip to the quarter-finals came in 2007. Are they due another? By Robert Summerscales Manchester City may be out of Europe and 20 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League, but Pep Guardiola's men are the favourites to win this season's FA Cup. Between City and a place in the quarter-finals stand Plymouth Argyle, who knocked out Liverpool in the previous round. We are expecting to see a strong City XI when the team news is confirmed shortly. Can't take anything Karen Carnage has to say serio. ..

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