Guardiola once again trusted Julián Álvarez and the Argentine did not let him down: Manchester City beat Bristol and advanced to the FA Cup

With a clear 3-0 win against bristol city (coming from the league, the second division), the Manchester City advanced to the quarterfinals of the England cupwith Julián Álvarez among the titles of the blue team, this time dressed in yellow.

Phil Foden with a brace (7 and 74) and the Belgian Kevin DeBruyne (81) were the authors of the team’s triumph Pep Guardiolawho could not liquidate him until the last stretch of the game.

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Gradually, Foden seems to be returning to the level he exhibited in previous seasons. “His career has always been uphill. This season has cost him a bit at the start, but now he’s back for the crucial leg of the journey,” Guardiola said of the talented midfielder.

“His influence has been decisive. Football rewards you when you work as hard as he did,” added the Catalan, who stressed that his team is “I live in three competitions“(Premiers, FA Cup and Champions).

Against a team in form, which had gone twelve games without defeat including all competitions, Guardiola’s men quickly took control of the match and booked young Rico Lewis (2) with a shot from the crossbar, one of the few novelties in a starting eleven of the Catalan coach with many regular starters (Dias, Silva, De Bruyne, Foden, Julián and Mahrez).

City wanted to clear up any chance of a surprise early on and after 7 minutes opened the scoring through international midfielder Phil Foden, who finished off a cross at the far post from Algerian Riyad Mahrez (7) after a great collective action from the full striker ‘Citizen’.

German goalkeeper Stefan Ortega reliably saved Alex Scott’s effort in the home side’s only dangerous play against a City who, for their part, had at least four chances to come out of the tie condemned at half-time.

Nor was Julián able to score the double on the first dangerous play after the break (51), shortly after Ortega made way for the usual Ederson after not recovering from a blow suffered at the start of the match.

As the match progressed, the locals grew and had a chance to equalize with a header from Sam Bell (71) which went wide.

Three minutes later, City scored with Foden’s second goal, a cross after receiving a great assist from Julián Álvarez (74), and De Bruyne closes the score with a forehand from 25 meters adjusted to the base of the post (81).

The bad news for City was that Portuguese Bernardo Silva saw a yellow card already with the match sentenced (87 minute) for tackling an opponent and will be suspended for the next round of a tournament which the ‘Citizens’ have not won since 2018-2019 season, the second with Guardiola on the bench.

Praise for Pep and minutes for Perrone

In the match preview, Guardiola praised Argentinian Máximo Perrone, one of the reinforcements from the last transfer market, because his head is “faster” than his legs.

“He’s a faster footballer with his head than with his legs,” commented the DT in a note to the English club’s official channel.

Perrone came on in the dying minutes of last weekend’s win against Bournemouth (4-1) and completed 18 of the 20 passes he gave away, an important number for a rookie. This Tuesday he also came on against Bristol, with minutes left in the game.

“He came on the recommendation of Joan Patsy, our consultant in South America. He had already suggested the hiring of Gabriel Jesús and Julián Álvarez,” he stressed about the eye of the former Catalan journalist who moves on this continent.

Joan Patsy is currently director of football for City Group in Latin America and met Guardiola in the past while working in Barcelona.

“I had some videos and information about him but honestly, I didn’t know him and neither did his new teammates. I saw him in the first two or three training sessions and I was like ‘wow, how good he moves’. His la there is individual quality”, he highlighted. Pep’.

Perrone, a member of the Argentine Under-20s, is an alternative in midfield, where there are Rodri and Kalvin Phillips, even if Guardiola sees him for later in the role of Kevin De Bruyne.

“I think he will grow by being with us from the pace, from the physique. Sometimes we look for players who play in the position where the spaces are smaller. It’s fine, really very fine,” he concluded.

More results in the FA Cup

In the other matches on Tuesday, Blackburn Rovers (second tier) gave the big surprise by eliminating Leicester City in their own stadium, thanks to the 2-1 obtained with goals from Tyrhys Dolan (33′) and Samuel Szmodics (52), which made Kelechi Ihenacho’s goal useless for the locals (67).

Brighton played against Stoke City (1-0), while in the only duel between teams in the Premier League, Fulham didn’t give a chance to Leeds (2-0).

The other four matches of the FA Cup quarter-finals remain until Wednesday, in which the other duel between Premier League teams that will face Manchester United and West Ham at Old Trafford stands out.