Nathan Ake winner gifts Manchester City FA Cup victory over Arsenal

Manchester City edged out their Premier League rivals Arsenal in their fourth-round FA Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium on Friday night. Nathan Ake’s second half strike was the difference between the two title chasers in a game of few clear-cut opportunities across both sides in Manchester. Leandro Trossard shone for Arsenal on his full debut, but the Gunners lacked the squad depth to hurt City, succumbing to their fourth loss of the season in all competitions.

With one eye on the Premier League, Mikel Arteta rotated heavily for this fixture against their main title rivals. The Spaniard handed starts to Matt Turner, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney, Fabio Vieira, and Leandro Trossard, opting to rest first-team stars such as Martin Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Pep Guardiola fielded a more full-strength side, with goalkeeper Stefan Ortega the only real change from the first XI, but the home team struggled to create any significant openings in the first 45 minutes.

Arsenal’s January signing Leandro Trossard made an instant impact in his first start for the side, with the winger setting up a shot for Takehiro Tomiyasu in the opening exchanges and also forcing Ortega into a fine save from a powerful left-footed shot. Eddie Nketiah also nearly profited from some neat work from Trossard on the byeline, the in-form striker volleying wide from the Belgian’s cross.

Arsenal nullified City’s slick passing and build up with their man-to-man approach, forcing the goalkeeper to long on many occasions in search of Erling Haaland. The Norwegian nearly got in behind the Arsenal backline on a few occasions, but American goalkeeper Matt Turner’s proactive sweeping spared the Gunner’s blushes.

Rob Holding struggled to deal with the physicality of Erling Haaland in the first period and was replaced by William Saliba after the break. Mikel Arteta also swapped Thomas Partey for Albert Sambi Lokonga in the second period, and the Gunners lost some control in the absence of their Ghanian midfielder.

City found more joy in the Arsenal third in the second half and found the winning goal through Nathan Ake in the 64th minute. Substitute Julian Alvarez struck the post from distance, and Jack Grealish fed Nathan Ake off the resulting rebound, who curled one into the far corner to put Manchester City in front.

With this win, Manchester City have now beaten the Gunners in each of their last six meetings in all competitions, and all eyes now turn to the 15th of February when the two sides will meet in North London in a potential title-deciding clash in the Premier League.