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9 min At the other end Matty Lund heads onto the roof of the net from Garbutt’s cross. Good effort that.
GOAL! Man City 1-0 Salford City (Doku 8)
I was just about to say that Salford haven’t parked the bus; maybe they wished they had. Ashley lost the ball in midfield and City took advantage ruthlessly. Nunes moved forward and found Grealish, who played the ball his left for Doku. He swept a first-time shot back across goal that went through the fingertips of the diving Young and in off the post.
6 min Grealish’s corner is headed away at the near post by Tilt.
6 min Doku crackles down the left wing to win the first corner of the game.
4 min Simpson-Pusey is flattened near the halfway line but the referee plays the advantage. Eventually O’Reilly slashes well wide from 25 yards.
2 min This is the rough City formation.
Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson; Nunes, Simpson-Pusey, Ake, O’Reilly; McAtee, Gundogan, Grealish; Savinho, Mubama, Doku.
1 min Peep peep! Manchester City kick off from left to right as we watch. It looks like Matheus Nunes is starting at right-back witn Nico O’Reilly at left-back.
A reminder of the teams as they take the field. Basically, nobody has a clue how Manchester City will set up.
Manchester City (possible 4-3-3) Ederson; Nunes, O’Reilly, Simpson-Pusey, Ake; McAtee, Gundogan, Grealish; Savinho, Mubama, Doku.
Substitutes: Akanji, De Bruyne, Foden, Gvardiol, Haaland, Kovacic, Lewis, Ortega, Bernardo Silva.
Salford City (possible 3-1-4-2) Young; Shephard, Tilt, Garbutt; Ashley; Mnoga, Lund, Fornah, Berkoe; Adelakun, Kouassi.
Substitutes: Chester, Heys, Jones, Malcolm, McAleny, Stockton, Taylor, Watson, Wright.
“Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “With a Tilt in central defence we’re certain to see plenty of pinball action in the Salford six-yard box.”
“This is why the FA Cup is great,” writes Mary Waltz. “Hellbound Plymouth rising from the dead, shocking a Premier League team. I know that Plymouth will not go far in this tourney, that a PL squad will win the cup. But seeing the occasional David upset a Goliath is brilliant.”
It’ll never get old.
Forget the game, no need for any football. The BBC coverage has just begun with a poem from Salford’s finest, John Cooper Clarke, and that’s all the entertainment we need for tonight.
There’s no VAR in the FA Cup third round, and no replays. If necessary, tonight’s match can go to extra-time and penalties.
“Evening,” says Damian Clarke. “Any news from Johnny Marr? Given he’s a City supporter, but a good percentage of the globe only knows Salford because of an album cover?”
He doesn’t usually email the MBM until the match is under way. But since you mentioned The Queen Is Dead, let’s have some music to get us in the mood.
The first big shock of the FA Cup third round occurred at the Gtech Community Stadium this afternoon. Jonathan Wilson was there for us.
Pep’s rebuild starts here
Team news
Pep Guardiola makes nine changes from the team that beat West Ham 4-1 last weekend; the survivors are Nathan Ake and Savinho. Devin Mubama, signed from West Ham in the summer, will start up front. Kyle Walker has been left out of the squad.
Salford bring in Matthew Lund and Kylian Kouassi for Ryan Watson and Cole Stockton. Their bench includes 15-year-old Marshall Heys.
Manchester City (possible 4-3-3) Ederson; Nunes, O’Reilly, Simpson-Pusey, Ake; McAtee, Gundogan, Grealish; Savinho, Mubama, Doku.
Substitutes: Akanji, De Bruyne, Foden, Gvardiol, Haaland, Kovacic, Lewis, Ortega, Bernardo Silva.
Salford City (possible 3-1-4-2) Young; Shephard, Tilt, Garbutt; Ashley; Mnoga, Lund, Fornah, Berkoe; Adelakun, Kouassi.
Substitutes: Chester, Heys, Jones, Malcolm, McAleny, Stockton, Taylor, Watson, Wright.
Read Will Unwin’s preview
Salford are third in League Two and optimism is building that they could exit it through the ceiling rather than the floor. Robinson is doing an impressive job with the players at his disposal and the academy is starting to produce players to give hints of an upward curve. The former Oxford manager backed the owners after meeting them just over a year ago to discuss the job. He had so much faith he did not sign a contract for the first seven matches of his reign and he could further repay their decision to hire him by attracting the finance to kickstart their ambitions.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Manchester City v Salford City in the FA Cup third round. Nobody of sound mind could accuse Pep Guardiola of turning his nose up at domestic cup competitions; he’s won 10 of them, 16 if you include the Community Shield and Supercopa de España. This season, however, he needs the FA Cup more than ever. City are out of the Carabao Cup and almost certainly out of the title race. They’re also 22nd in the Champions League, a sentence that is weird on all kinds of levels.
City will expect to reach the fourth round but their opponents might take some breaking down. This is surely the best team in Salford City’s short history. They are third in League Two and on a run of six straight wins without conceding a goal. The Class of 92’s involvement adds another narrative layer to tonight’s game. Gary Neville once gave Paul Scholes a big smacker when he scored an injury-time winner on this ground. The mind boggles at how they might celebrate if Salford pull of a shock tonight.
Kick off 5.45pm.
