Leyton Orient 1-2 Manchester City (Ortega OG 16’ | Lewis 56’, De Bruyne 79’)
For Pep Guardiola O’s are usually something to be found in abundance in his chequebook. Going forward they will be a reminder of a humbling day when Manchester City struggled past Leyton Orient to prevent their season plunging to new depths.
City did not expect to encounter Orient, in this mood, putting on a show. It is the most unlikely of underdog stories – six years ago, still in the National League, driven to the brink of liquidation by abhorrent levels of neglect. They came within 35 minutes of one of the great FA Cup upsets.
Over the course of his reign, Guardiola must have grown sick of the sight of Tottenham players, so perhaps it was inevitable that the two Spurs loanees Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley would have their say.
Within minutes of Donley’s ethereal chip that bounced off the woodwork and then Stefan Ortega, an online petition had been launched to credit the young forward with the goal. Keeley, the stopper, initially had the measure of Omar Marmoush and City’s makeshift attack, with no Erling Haaland in the squad.
It says everything that City needed the cavalry from the bench – and a huge slice of luck – to salvage the tie. Rico Lewis’s effort took a huge deflection off Abdukodir Khusanov to find its way in, before Kevin De Bruyne’s cool finish confirmed City’s place in the hat for the next round.
Yet Orient thoroughly deserved to remain in this tie for so long. Manager Richie Wellens had to apologise after his recent dig at Ange Postecoglou but he showed he is capable of going toe-to-toe with elite managers.
Wellens is prone to watching from high up in the Justin Edinburgh Stand – a superstition that dates back to a touchline ban – but quickly made his way down to the dugout to tinker and tweak. The switch to a back five kept City at bay for long spells, Ethan Galbraith transformed into a wing-back. Eventually, all bets were off and so were the wingers – two more centre-halves were thrown into the mix.
Nobody begrudged a more rudimentary approach. EFL sides have been robbed of the prospect of replays this season, which at one time were their lifeblood. The decision to scrap them was made precisely with clubs like City in mind.
Around the half-hour mark, with Keeley down receiving treatment, Wellens seized the moment for an impromptu team talk, his players lapping up every word. Despite all the adversity they have faced there is none of the siege mentality at Orient that Guardiola has been forced to instill at City, only the courage and shrewd recruitment that is fuelling their promotion push.
Make no mistake, this mattered hugely to both managers. It may well be all City have left, 15 points behind Liverpool, out of the League Cup and with Real Madrid lying in wait in Europe.
The next few weeks could be even more bruising. Guardiola has revealed he expects the verdict on the 115 charges to be confirmed in the next month, so it is all City can do to at least keep their season alive on the pitch. The rest is out of their hands.
It is against that backdrop that so much of the country will have been cheering on Orient. Chairman Nigel Travis, who has given so much to this club – and not just financially – flew in for the occasion. He is desperate to bring in more investment; welcoming City to town was a reminder of just what this valiant old club are up against in English football.
For nearly an hour his side rattled the champions of England, in some cases literally. City debutant Nico Fernandez came in billed as the man to replace Rodri and lasted just 22 minutes before going off with a back problem. It seemed to have been suffered in the build-up to Donley’s strike as he was knocked to the ground, but with no VAR there was no prospect of another look.
City cannot afford any more setbacks on that front, so desperate are they to avoid a first season since 2017 without a trophy. That would represent the true nadir of the Sheikh Mansour era. Instead they limp on, ahead of the real test that lies ahead in midweek. Madrid might just be licking their lips.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/xn3EgVH
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