Manchester City narrowly avoided an FA Cup upset, edging past third-tier Leyton Orient with a hard-fought 2-1 victory on Saturday to reach the fifth round.
City found themselves trailing early when Jamie Donley’s audacious strike hit the bar and rebounded off goalkeeper Stefan Ortega for a shock opener. Despite dominating possession, Pep Guardiola’s side struggled to break down a resilient Leyton Orient defense.
The equalizer came in the 56th minute, with Rico Lewis scoring his first goal for City courtesy of a deflection off Abdukodir Khusanov. But it wasn’t until Guardiola introduced star substitutes Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden that the breakthrough arrived.
De Bruyne proved decisive, slotting home Jack Grealish’s clever pass just 11 minutes from time, sparing City from what could have been a humiliating exit. With City sitting fourth in the Premier League and facing Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round on Tuesday, Guardiola will demand a significant improvement from his squad to keep their season on track.
