Both Manchester Giants into the 4th Round Back in May 2024, Manchester United upset the odds to overcome Manchester City in the FA Cup final in front of a packed Wembley Stadium. Kobbie Mainoo was the Man of the Match and scored one of his side’s two goals as they produced a superb display to claim a deserved 2-1 win. Much has changed at United since then, with four of the starting XI no longer at the club and a new manager in place. Of course, much has changed at Man City too, though it is perhaps a lack of change in terms of personnel that has been the problem. Following City’s league title success last term, nobody would have predicted that they would head into the third round of the 2024/25 FA Cup sitting sixth in the table. With 20 games gone, they are outside the Champions League places, whilst United are not even in the top 12! Both Manchester giants will be hoping for much stronger second halves of the season and the FA Cup gave them a welcome chance to forget about their league travails and perhaps take the first step towards silverware this term. City faced a routine-looking home clash with local rivals Salford, but United looked up against it against not-so-local rivals Arsenal. In the end both got the job done, albeit in very different ways. City Thump Salford Divin Mubama (Egghead06, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia) Due to the involvement with Salford of former Man United stars such as the Neville brothers, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs, this tie took on an extra subplot. Giggs, who trained with Man City as a boy, is Salford’s Director of Football, and has been in the dugout for Salford this term and was there for this huge clash. There were more than 52,000 fans at the Etihad and in the end they saw a one-sided display and the sort of result that was not that uncommon for City until recently. They dispatched The Ammies by a walloping 8-0 and it seems that Pep Guardiola’s men are over the worst of their slump. Karl Robinson’s League Two side had no answer to the class, movement and intensity the home side offered, although in actual fact the score did flatter City a little. Salford had their moments and mustered 10 shots, including two on target. City “only” managed 20 but 10 of theirs found the target and eight hit the back of the net as they posted an xG of 5.04 to Salford’s 0.89. The visitors had 32% of the ball, which is far more than many Premier League sides have enjoyed at the Etihad in the Pep era and despite the scoreline they were not totally overwhelmed. Robinson’s troops were assisted by the fact that City were very short of personnel, particularly at the back. Pep gave starts to youngsters Nico O’Reilly and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, both just 19, with Nathan Ake providing a little experience, though he went off at the break with Manuel Akanji replacing him. They were the only defensive players on the pitch in a 3-4-2-1 formation that saw Jack Grealish and Matheus Nunes in the wide positions. Jeremy Doku gave City an early lead after just eight minutes, exactly what Robinson and Giggs would have hoped to avoid. The tie was almost over as a contest when young striker, Divin Mubama, doubled the advantage after 20 minutes and O’Reilly then made it three before half time. Grealish scored a penalty just after the break, his first goal in over a year after a goalless 2024 but the second half really belonged to young midfielder James McAtee. The highly promising 22-year-old made it five after 62 minutes before a Doku penalty seven minutes later. McAtee then rounded off the scoring on 72 minutes and 81 to take home the match ball. Guardiola will have been impressed by many of the youngsters who featured and whilst he knows there is work to do, a win such as this can only boost the confidence of the squad. United Win as Bayindir the Hero Altay Bayindir ( Wikipedia, CC0) City were huge favourites to make the fourth round whilst United were underdogs. Only Arsenal have won the competition more times than Amorim’s men, though the team from the North West will draw level on 14 wins if they can retain their crown. The Gunners had not been in the best form coming into the clash but then the away side have not really been in top shape for a decade! Red Devils boss, Amorim, knew his team would have to “suffer” and work incredibly hard against the Gunners. The first half will have largely pleased him, as they kept Mikel Arteta’s men at bay. It was a dour 45 minutes, with no real chances and just two shots on target, both for the visitors. The second period was very different though and the Gunners battered their guests, creating enough chances to win the game. They had far more of the ball, 14 shots to two, five corners versus Man United’s one and yet after 52 minutes they found themselves a goal down. United produced a fine break and Bruno Fernandes an excellent finish from the edge of the area and all of a sudden an upset was on the cards. Arsenal, who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, would have fancied their chances of coming back into things when Diogo Dalot was sent off for a second offence after 61 minutes. And indeed the Gunners did come back into the game, levelling through Gabriel just two minutes later. However, United weathered the storm, riding their luck at the time and relying on the excellence of their stand-in stopper, the Turk Altay Bayindir. In the 70th minute he saved a Martin Odegaard penalty and did well to prevent Declan Rice scoring on two occasions. The full-time whistle went at 1-1 and penalties loomed. In the end it was the holders who kept their nerve, dispatching all five of their spot kicks. That meant that Altay’s save of Arsenal’s second effort, from Kai Havertz, proved decisive, and United prevailed 3-5 on penalties to book their spot in the fourth round. What Next? The draw for the next round followed United’s clash and it must have hurt former Gunner Martin Keown to be one of those picking out the balls. The Red Devils will welcome former interim boss and player Ruud van Nistelrooy back to Old Trafford, as they drew Leicester. City are away but face lower-league opposition in the shape of Leyton Orient. The ties will take place around the weekend of the 8th of February. Football