GOAL DROUGHT OVER: RODRI FINDS THE NET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 20 MONTHS
Manchester City crush Exeter City 10-1 in the FA Cup. Rodri breaks his drought, and Rico Lewis shines in a historic Etihad rout.
Rodri finally broke his goal drought—the first one in 20 months—and Rico Lewis grabbed two as Pep Guardiola’s side tore through the League One visitors at the Etihad on Saturday.
It all started with Max Alleyne, who opened the floodgates with his first senior goal. Then came a pair of own goals, quickly followed by strikes from Tijjani Reijnders, Nico O’Reilly, and 17-year-old Ryan McAidoo. It was relentless.
Exeter did have one thing to cheer about: George Birch unleashed a brilliant late strike, a consolation, but at least something to take home.
The city needed this. After three straight draws in the Premier League and a Carabao Cup semi-final looming, they finally had a day where everything clicked. Honestly, it couldn’t have been much easier. It was their biggest win since hammering Huddersfield by the same score back in 1987. They also battered Burton 9-0 in 2019, but days like these don’t come often.
Guardiola wasn’t on the touchline—serving a one-match ban—but his intent was clear. He made six changes, sure, but the lineup was stacked. Semenyo went straight in for his debut after a huge move from Bournemouth, and both Rodri and Haaland started.
There was some youth sprinkled in—McAdoo making his debut, Alleyne keeping his spot from the midweek match—but this was a strong City side.
Exeter almost shocked everyone early. Liam Oakes rose above the City defence from a corner, but James Trafford tipped his header over. That was as close as they got.
From there, City took over. Alleyne poked home after a scramble in the box just 12 minutes in—he was at Watford on loan at the start of the month, and now he’s scoring at the Etihad. Rodri doubled the lead soon after, smashing in a 25-yarder after Semenyo’s shot was blocked. Big moment for Rodri, who’s been fighting back from injury for a while.
Before halftime, two own goals killed the game. The first was messy—nobody seemed sure if it bounced in off Fitzwater, Doyle-Hayes, or even City’s Nathan Ake. The second, same thing: Reijnders whipped in a cross, and it pinged in with Fitzwater and Doyle-Hayes both in the mix. Either way, Exeter was done.
The second half was a walk. Lewis volleyed in from a Semenyo cross for the fifth, then Semenyo got on the scoresheet himself, racing onto a long ball and sliding it past Joe Whitworth. Reijnders curled in a beauty for the seventh, O’Reilly headed in a Lewis cross for the eighth, and McAidoo smashed in from outside the box for number nine.
Birch did give Exeter fans something to cheer—he hammered one into the top corner late on. But City wasn’t finished. Lewis slammed home a bouncing ball in stoppage time to wrap up a wild afternoon.
PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO GUARANTEE RODRI’S RETURN FOR MONDAY’S PREMIER LEAGUE CLASH
Pep Guardiola provides the latest injury news on Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of a crucial title race clash at Everton.
Pep Guardiola has shared the latest on Manchester City's injury situation ahead of Monday’s Premier League match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
City is in good form right now. They came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, making it six wins in a row across all competitions.
But they’ve had to do it without Rodri. He's missed their last two matches, including a tight 1-0 win at Burnley, after hurting his groin against Arsenal a couple of weeks back. Guardiola recently told reporters that Rodri is getting better, but the team’s been cautious and isn’t rushing him back.
At his latest press conference on Friday, Guardiola said Rodri still hasn’t returned to training, so they’re just taking it day by day. There's hope, but Guardiola wouldn’t give any guarantees about Rodri’s chances of playing against Everton. "He’s getting better. Still, he didn't train with us, so we’ll see in the next few days,” he said. When pressed about his confidence, Pep just replied, “I am always confident.”
With Rodri still not training, it sounds like a last-minute decision on whether he’ll play. A start against Everton seems unlikely. That probably means Nico González, who scored the winner against Southampton, will keep his spot in midfield next to Bernardo Silva. Maybe Nico O’Reilly slides into central midfield, too, if he isn’t covering at left-back.
It’s not all good news in defence either. Ruben Dias is still out with the ankle injury that’s kept him sidelined for the last six games, and Josko Gvardiol is recovering from the tibial fracture he picked up in January. Both are working their way back, and Guardiola says they’re improving, but there’s no sign of a return just yet.
Turning to the Everton game, City could head into it trailing Arsenal by six points if the Gunners beat Fulham on Saturday. With the title race this tight, City can’t afford to slip up.
Guardiola knows Monday will be tough. “Everton have always been tough,” he said. “Old Everton was so cool and so British, and I loved to go there, but in the new stadium, they are defending really well, and it has always been tough." He’s not taking recent Everton results lightly, adding, 'They're fighting for a place in Europe. We won with two or three actions here, but we were not good at that moment. We can’t have any result but win, win, win.”
Everton won’t be easy, especially away, but City can at least take confidence from their strong record of 17 league games unbeaten against the Toffees. They won the reverse fixture 2-0, with Haaland scoring both goals. Still, Guardiola isn’t expecting it to be straightforward.
MANCHESTER CITY’S REQUEST TO RESCHEDULE PIVOTAL PREMIER LEAGUE TIES BRUTALLY DENIED
The Premier League has rejected Man City’s plea to swap Palace and Bournemouth matches. See City's brutal end-of-season schedule.
Manchester City are on the hunt for another domestic treble just seven years after the last one. Pep Guardiola pulled it off in 2018/19 with wins in the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. Now he's got his sights set on doing it again.
City’s deep run in the cups has created a mess for their league schedule. Their home game against Crystal Palace, which was supposed to happen during the Carabao Cup final weekend on March 22, got bumped. Same thing with their trip to Bournemouth, originally set for the day after the FA Cup final.
There’s a hold-up with rescheduling Palace; the Eagles’ Conference League semi-final run means they’ve got barely any free midweek dates. The match was pencilled in for Wednesday, May 13, but things got complicated when City reached the FA Cup Final, and Bournemouth got postponed too. The city asked the Premier League if they could play Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 12, then face Palace a week later, to squeeze in an extra recovery day before the Wembley showdown. Plus, that would give them the bonus of finishing their last two league games at home. But the Premier League usually insists that the fixture that was originally scheduled first in this case, Palace, gets played first.
According to The Mirror, City’s request was shot down. So now Guardiola’s team has to cram their last four matches into just 12 days: Palace visits on May 13, then the FA Cup Final, Bournemouth away on May 19, and finally wrapping things up at home to Aston Villa on May 24.
They couldn't play Bournemouth on May 20 because that’s the Europa League final night, and UEFA didn’t want any Premier League games stealing the spotlight when Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest could be involved.
The Mirror says the revised fixture dates and kick-off times are coming out today. Chelsea, also FA Cup finalists, will play their rescheduled match against Tottenham on May 19.
City still has to travel to Everton next Monday and host Brentford on Saturday, May 9. Then comes their jam-packed finish, starting with Palace.
Meanwhile, title rivals Arsenal will be hoping City’s crowded schedule works in their favour. Though Arsenal has its own challenge, a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid is spread across the next two midweeks.
Arsenal closes out its league campaign with home games against Fulham and Burnley and trips to West Ham and Palace.
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