Cheltenham 1-3 Manchester City Player Ratings: Foden stars

8:34pm on Saturday 23rd January 2021
By Stefan Bienkowski

Manchester City were forced to dig deep and pull out an impressive comeback display, with a 3-1 victory over Cheltenham in the four round of the FA Cup.

The fourth-tier side looked impressive as they held Pep Guardiola’s side to a 0-0 draw until half time and then took the lead just before the hour mark.

Fortunately, the Man City manager was able to rely on some of his most trusted stars to not only equalise but win the tie by a comfortable margin in ordinary time.

Cheltenham v Manchester City: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats

❌ BAD PERFORMANCE

Benjamin Mendy: 6.4

With just six appearances to his name for City this season, Saturday’s FA Cup clash should have been the perfect opportunity for Benjamin Mendy to show Guardiola and City fans that he was back and ready to nail down that left-back position. It didn’t exactly go to plan.

The left-back struggled to offer much in attack, with just one cross and 11 passes into the final third to his name against the fourth tier side. And when we couple that with no headers or tackles won over the course of the game, we can begin to understand why Guardiola decided to pull him off in the 77th minute as City went hunting for an equaliser.

✔️ GOOD PERFORMANCE

Ferran Torres: 7.3

Despite signing in the summer as one of City’s main attacking additions to the team, Ferran Torres has struggled to nail down a regular, starting role in Guardiola’s side and Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Cheltenham was beginning to look like yet another example of why that may be the case.

Despite spending the entire game on the pitch, Torres managed just one shot on target and failed to create a single big chance or even a single cross over the course of the match.

However, with just a few moments left of the game, a through ball to Ilkay Gundogan allowed the German international to cut the ball back to the young forward to fire home only his second goal in his last five appearances for the club.

⭐ STAR MAN

Phil Foden: 8.6

With Kevin De Bruyne picking up a serious, long-term injury prior to Saturday’s FA Cup clash, all eyes were on Phil Foden to see if the young English midfielder would be able to step into the Belgian playmakers boots.

Fortunately for Guardiola’s side, that’s exactly what Foden did. Despite a rather abject performance from his team mates, Foden drove Guardiola’s side on and was rewarded for his efforts with a goal in the 81st minute, when Joao Cancelo picked out the unmarked midfielder at the back post to fire home a late equaliser.

City would go on to win the game with a goal from Jesus just minutes from full time, but it was the young English star that ensured the victory for Guardiola and his team.

Cheltenham v Manchester City: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats