Manchester City beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 in the fifth round of FA Cup at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday, March 1.
The Cityzens thus qualified for the quarterfinals of the competition, keeping the hopes of a trophy alive for the current season.
Manchester City came from behind to win thanks to a Nico O’Reilly brace, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring the final goal.
Despite a good start, the Championship team, who stunned Liverpool in the previous round, could not overcome the next big obstacle on their way.
Nico O’Reilly’s Match-Winning Performance for Manchester City
O’Reilly scored with a couple of headers from set-pieces to guide the Cityzens to a victory. The 19-year-old now has three goals in nine matches for the English champions this season
O’Reilly started as the right-back for Manchester City against Plymouth, with his young teammate James McAtee starting on the right flank.
The Cityzens found it difficult initially to breach Plymouth’s dour defence, but then O’Reilly scored from the set-pieces.
City have played both Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes as right-backs this season in Kyle Walker’s absence.
The young Englishman was the latest addition in that list, which shows that Pep Guardiola has already started experimenting with his squad, keeping the impending massive rebuild in mind.
A number of stalwarts might leave Manchester City next season, which should prompt the Spanish manager to buy a number of new players.
He will also need to shuffle his existing resources well to form a strong side yet again.
Utilizing O’Reilly is also a step in that direction, as the young English player might have to replace Walker and John Stones next season.
Neither Lewis nor Nunes have impressed much as right-backs so far, which means that the position is up there for taking.
O’Reilly’s brace came against a less-fancied side admittedly, but it will still give Guardiola some hope for the future.
A Breakthrough Moment in Guardiola’s Plans?
Guardiola might ponder starting with O’Reilly more often in the upcoming matches of the FA Cup at least.
The Cityzens will still have to fight for a top-four finish in the Premier League, which means that Guardiola will want to go with his best possible XI in the league matches.
What remains to be seen is whether the Spaniard considers O’Reilly to be a part of his best possible XI.
John Stones might still play in the position of a right-back in critical matches, but he may not be able to feature in every match.
In such a scenario, O’Reilly might get a look-in more often. He will turn 20 this year and it might very well signal the start of a promising career.
The likes of Cole Palmer and Kobbie Mainoo have made their marks for their respective teams in the recent past.
The Manchester City supporters will hope that O’Reilly and McAtee follow suit in that regard.
Guardiola is renowned for keeping his faith in youngsters and also honing them for the future.
English football might benefit in general if he is able to continue the good work with O’Reilly. It remains to be seen how things pan out in the future.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Every Second Media
Recording Date: 01.03.2025