McAtee’s hat-trick helped ruthless City progress to the fourth round
Manchester City comfortably progressed into the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday after beating League Two Salford City 8-0.
Salford-born James McAtee scored a memorable second-half hat-trick for the youngster, causing a major upset for Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad.
Goals from Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly either side of a debut goal from Divin Mubama put City in a commanding position in the first half, while penalties from Jack Grealish and the excellent Doku after the break and McAtee’s goals completed the rout.
The game was given added spice by the fact that members of Manchester United’s “Class of ’92” are co-owners of the fourth division club. However, there was to be no memorable win for the visitors as City dominated proceedings from the start.
The eye-catching result will be a welcome confidence boost for Guardiola and his team, who have made a promising start to 2025 with three straight wins.
FULL TIME | In the hat 🎩
🩵 8-0 🔴 #ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/uVvzcCGHIs
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 11, 2025
How the action developed
It took less than eight minutes for City to take the lead. Salford lost the ball in the middle of the pitch, Matheus Nunes fed Jack Grealish, who in turn played to Doku, who shot into the far corner of the net.
The approximately five thousand fans who traveled with them remained in good spirits, even though their team fell behind early on and only had 18% possession of the ball in the first quarter of an hour.
Kylian Kouassi then saved the ball when Jahmai Simpson-Pusey missed Nathan Ake’s header off the line.
Five minutes later, City doubled their lead when 20-year-old debutant Mubama finished off a clever move from the hosts.
Savinho’s pass found the inferior Nunes, who passed the ball to Mubama to pass.
A special moment for Divin Mubama as he celebrates his Man City debut with a goal! 🩵#MCISAL #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/K8mi3ITW4c
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 11, 2025
Kouassi parried Ederson after a turbulent run but it was the Premier League champions who were in control.
The young Salford striker was once again at the center of the action when a clever set-piece led to the 21-year-old firing the ball into the box where he could have done better.
The miss ultimately proved costly. Moments later, City extended their lead to three when the excellent Doku beat his man before cutting back to O’Reilly, who confidently swept the ball into the goal.
Two minutes after the restart, Salford were the architects of their own downfall when Mubama hijacked an inadequately struck back pass from captain Curtis Tilt and laid the ball back to Grealish.
But before the England international could save his shot, he was brought down by Ossama Ashley. Grealish picked himself up and scored the ensuing penalty for his first of the season and City’s fourth.
Shortly after the hour mark, McAtee scored the fifth goal after firing Doku’s pinpoint cross well into the goal. Doku then allowed himself a second goal when he took the penalty after the ball was determined to have hit Tilt’s arm.
Decent finish from James McAtee 👌#MCISAL #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/LnNwiBDHBC
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 11, 2025
McAtee added another goal after a lovely pass from Phil Foden before completing his hat-trick and inflicting more misery on the League Two team.
Salford had a couple of half-chances, allowing 16-year-old Will Wright a five-minute runout. However, City got through the rest of the competition largely unscathed.
