London: Manchester
City survived a scare to beat fourth-tier Cheltenham 3-1 in the fourth round of
FA Cup on Saturday.
Manchester City was nine minutes from falling victims to one of the biggest upsets in recent seasons before a three-goal burst in the last nine minutes saw them through against League Two (fourth division) Cheltenham Town.
A long throw-in from Cheltenham captain Ben Tozer caused a mix-up in the City defense and Alfie May seized on a deflection to stab the ball into the net.
In the 81st minute City finally pulled level as Phil Foden met Joao Cancelo's cross at the far post and knocked the ball into the net. Gabriel Jesus scored City's second three minutes later to avoid extra time, though his goal may have been deemed offside if the video review system — not used in cup games at non-Premier League stadiums — had been in operation.
Ferran Torres added a third in stoppage time to ensure City moves on to play Swansea in the fifth round.
"We learned to suffer and at the end the quality made the difference. We won the game and we are happy to win this game in this type of competition," Guardiola said. "We knew how tough it would be and the response from the players was magnificent."
West Ham had no such problems as they cruised past Doncaster Rovers (League One) 4-0 thanks to goals from Pablo Fornals, AndriyYarmolenko, the unfortunate Doncaster Rovers captain Andy Butler, and OladapoAfolayan.
Elsewhere Bristol City won 3-0 away to Millwall, while Swansea City thrashed Nottingham Forrest 5-1 and Barnsley beat Championship leaders Norwich City 1-0. Agencies