By Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 11:14 p.m., Updated yesterday at 11:41 p.m.
Nathan Aké scored the winning goal for Manchester City. DAVID KLEIN / REUTERS
The Skyblues qualified for the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to their victory at Spurs this Friday. No winner between Chelsea and Aston Villa.
Manchester City broke their curse by winning late at Tottenham (1-0), in a stadium where they had never won or even scored, Friday in a 4th round of the FA Cup poor in goals and rich in “replays”. The British kingdom, usually so prolific, experienced a dry breakdown on the attacking front, with only three goals scored in four games, despite the involvement of some of the most spectacular and offensive teams in the Premier League.
The Mancunians saved their reputation in the 88th minute with a goal scored by a defender, Nathan Aké, breaking the spell that had stuck to them since the inauguration of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019. The other goals came from the duel between residents of Championship (D2), Sheffield Wednesday against Coventry City (1-1). There were no winners either between Chelsea and Aston Villa (0-0), nor between the thirteenth in D2, Bristol City, and the poorly ranked Premier League, Nottingham Forest (0-0) .
All these teams will therefore have to decide at the beginning of February in a “replay”, these “Cup” matches to be replayed in the event of a tie. At the end, there will be a ticket to validate for the fifth round (where the “replays” disappear) scheduled for the end of February.
1st goal for Spurs
The outgoing champion, Manchester City, had all the difficulty in the world to win on Friday in a stadium which had been denied to him for an eternity, given his almost undivided sovereignty for several years in the kingdom. The young striker Oscar Bobb finally thought he was forcing the lock after five minutes, but the referee signaled him offside. The incoming Kevin De Bruyne also tried, without more success on a shot that went from close to close. side of the cage guarded by Guglielmo Vicario (82nd).
The goalkeeper, hampered by Ruben Dias, finally gave in on a goal from Aké, who came to put his foot forward to shake the nets as added time approached. The Dutchman allows City to bring back a first goal and a first victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, successor to the old White Hart Lane since April 2019, and where the Mancuniens had lost five times in five matches, in all competitions.
During this long series of failures, City had shot 84 times on goal, scoring 22 times, according to statistics published by the club before the match. The fourth round will continue on Saturday with Newcastle’s trip to Fulham, in particular, and Sunday’s reception of Norwich City (D2) by Liverpool at Anfield, where Jürgen Klopp will appear for the first time since the surprise announcement on Friday of his departure at the end of the season.
