Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City Review

FA Cup 3rd Round

Back to winning ways, debut for new signing Antoine Semenyo, and putting some concerns about scoring goals to rest. It was an enjoyable watch on the weekend, made all the more special by seeing many academy players on the pitch. James Trafford, Rico Lewis, Max Alleyne, and Ryan McAidoo stared. Divine Mukasa, Stephen Mfuni, and Nico O’Reilly came off the bench.

Whether it’s Phil Foden being a regular for the first team, Nico O’Reilly having his breakout season, getting into the England team, or Ryan McAidoo scoring on his debut and celebrating with his parents in the crowd. There is nothing quite like seeing one of your own coming through the academy and into the first team.

MOTM: ANTOINE SEMENYO

From when the deal was announced, Semenyo would have had one training session with the team and was in the lineup against Exeter City. Already, we’ve got to see the threat he can provide with runs in behind. Throughout the first half, Semenyo was looking for that pass he got in the second half, leading to the 6th goal.

The 1-2 with Reijnders, readjusting his body to make the cross for Rico Lewis. We don’t have a winger that can power past a player and drive those early crosses into the box like Semenyo can. Another way to find Erling Haaland, as well as the likes of Foden and Reijnder, crashing the box.

We also got a look at him cutting inside to pick out runners into the box, so the threat from Semenyo was not limited; he was not predictable, and that’s encouraging on his debut.

Notable Stats:

• Manchester City are the first English top-flight side to score 10+ goals in a match in any competition since Liverpool beat Fulham 10-0 in the League Cup in September 1986, and first to do so in the FA Cup since Tottenham Hotspur beat Crewe 13-2 in February 1960.

• Antoine Semenyo is the first player to both score and assist a goal on his Manchester City debut in all competitions since Sergio Agüero against Swansea in August 2011.

• Exeter City are the first side to score two own goals in an FA Cup match since Hartlepool v Stoke in January 2023, and first against a Premier League opponent since Brighton v Liverpool in February 2012.

Game Stats:

Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City

• xG: 2.24 - 0.42

• Possession: 72.0% - 28.0%

• Penalty Box Shots: 10 - 5

• Total Shots: 21 - 7

• Final Third Entries: 78 - 24

Debut for academy players Stephen Mfuni and Ryan McAidoo, including his first goal for the club.

Debut and first goal for new signing Antoine Semenyo.

Abdukodir Khusnaov has now played more minutes this season than he did during the entirety of last season.

Phil Foden and Nico Gonzalez are unused substitutes for only the second time this season.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Plenty of changes from Manchester City, despite fielding a strong team, and we saw a return to wingers holding the width on either side, although you saw plenty of either moving inside at times. Back three in possession of Ake, Alleyne, and Khusanov, with Rodri in front and Cherki dropping into pockets to receive the ball. Lewis is free to move between the lines and out wide.

Also back to using wingers in the press, either side of Erling Haaland, and the two pivots tracked by Reijnders and Cherki. Rodri is supporting the backline or tracking a player like Cole, who would drop or pull out wide. You could see right away that Semenyo is much more physically imposing as a presser in the 1st line. McAidoo, on the opposite side, worked hard and was aggressive every opportunity he got, which Pep Lijnders noticed and praised post-match.

There were some early mistakes on the ball, soft passes, that gave Exeter a couple of shots, and a reminder that Rodri needed the minutes as he continues to get up to speed. Excellent save by James Trafford off a corner.

M. Alleyne 12’ 1-0

That didn’t last too long. Haaland has a shot deflected for a corner. Inswinger corner by McAidoo on the right side punched clear by the keeper. McAidoo recovers, drives into the box, and does a brilliant job of faking the initial cross to get himself space to pick one out at the back-post. After headers by Ake and Haaland, Khusanov passes across to Alleyne to tap in the opener. His first professional goal in what would have been a huge week for him, returning from Watford.

Rodri 24’ 2-0

The second came from Semenyo moving inside to receive the ball on the edge of the D from Rodri, his shot is deflected, but the ball falls nicely for Rodri to score his first goal of the season, and first since West Ham (H) on the final day of the 23/24 season. His first goal in the FA Cup. Doubling the lead.

J. D. Hayes 42’ (OG) 3-0

Corner leading to the third and own goal by Exeter City (42'). Haaland runs to the near-post, Reijnders to the back, and Ake has the space to run into the middle of the 6-yard box. Something we could continue to see more of.

It'll also be interesting to see how Semenyo continues to be used in corner routines. He's taken Silva's role of being on the keeper in this one. Not a set-piece threat across his career, but it's another big player to put in the box who can compete for the ball at both ends. He will be quick to pounce on loose balls.

J. Fitzwater 45+2’ (OG) 4-0

The 4th goal encapsulates what Reijnders needs to improve on: his work in recovering possession in the final third, and combining that with his qualities in possession, the runs into the box, to create more chances. Nicely weighted pass by McAidoo in this move. He doesn’t get there, but good to see Cherki making the near-post run that we’ve missed in the last couple of games.

Triple change at half-time for Manchester City as Haaland, Rodri, and Ake all come off for Mfuni, Mukasa, and O’Reilly. The latter played midfield for the first time since Brighton (A) at the start of the season. Debut for Mfuni, who started at left-back and eventually moved to LCB once Alleyne came off (64’).

R. Lewis 49’ 5-0

The 5th goal is the best one from the team IMO. Mfuni fires the pass into Semenyo, Mukasa does a good job here of pinning the defender so that Semenyo is left 1v1. Reijnders comes across to play the 1-2, which leaves Semenyo in a foot race to the ball. Mukasa dropping deep helps to open up more space for the pass behind.

A small detail that makes all the difference in this situation is that the pass is slightly overhit, but Semenyo is completely fine readjusting his body to get the cross in first time.

You can see Rico Lewis making the run into the box and calling for the ball as soon as Semenyo is coming down the line.

Lewis starts his run as soon as he sees Reijnders play the pass out to Semenyo, and then does a good job of getting around the defender from behind and tapping in the cross.

These are Semenyo's open play crosses for Bournemouth this season in the Premier League. He doesn't have an issue getting them off, but we could well see at Manchester City that with the better quality teammates, these crosses lead to more chances and goals.

A. Semenyo 54’ 6-0

Efficient is the word to describe the debut goal by Antoine Semenyo, who's been making runs in behind all game long; this time Cherki can pick one out. First touch to settle the ball and get it out from his feet. Second to move across the defender. Then opens up his body for the shot through the keeper’s legs. The composure in front of the goal from our wingers we’ve been searching for.

Final round of changes as Alleyne and Semenyo came off for Doku and Silva (64’). Keeping the formers fresh for the next game and making sure the other two had some minutes in their legs ahead of a tough week.

T. Reijnders 71’ 7-0

Jeremy Doku shows his composure inside the box, squaring up the defender, drawing three more towards him, and then laying it off for Reijnders to finish. Curled into the far corner. That’s four goals in his last six games. Twelve G+A across all competitions this season.

N. O’Reilly 79’ 8-0

We don't get to see Rico Lewis playing these passes often, as he's usually looking to receive in the pocket or make runs into the box, but the quality is there. It might be the best header O'Reilly scores in his career. There is also a good argument we should have seen more from Rico Lewis in recent games, even if it’s for the final 30 minutes, he’s excellent in the small spaces around the box, and as we’ve seen this season, arriving to score.

R. McAidoo 86’ 9-0

Special moment for Ryan McAidoo to score his first goal on his debut, and he went to celebrate with his parents in the stands. Born in Harlow, Essex, the winger spent time at Colchester Academy, then moved to Chelsea, and eventually to Manchester City in 2024. Scored ten goals in nineteen games for the U18s in his first season. Now playing with the EDS in PL2.

Exeter City (90’) managed to get one back, off a high turnover from Reijnders’ pass inside, and a finish into the top corner that James Trafford had no chance of saving. Before the game finished, Rico Lewis scored another to make it ten (90+1’). Lovely dribble from Doku into the box, another 1-2 from Reijnders, and Exeter block the shot only for Lewis to volley in the loose ball.

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Moving Forward

As I mentioned at the beginning, there is nothing quite like seeing academy players come through and play a role in the first team. You add to that a new signing in Semenyo, Rodri getting up to speed, and seeing the likes of Khusanov more involved. There was a lot to enjoy on the weekend.

The energy that’ll come from this win, seeing the goals they’re capable of scoring, all needs to be carried into the next games against Newcastle (LC) and Manchester United (A). Resting key players and others played smaller roles was absolutely needed against Exeter. Now, time to carry that momentum forward.

Another start for Max Alleyne since returning. Less of long passes from him in this game, with 2/3 completed. 1/1 aerial duels won. Made the most ball recoveries and progressive carries for Manchester City. On track for another against Newcastle in the League Cup. As Pep Lijnders mentioned after the match, to put in these performances whilst moving back from Watford is very impressive.

Great to see another full 90' for Abdukodir Khusanov, who, as Guardiola has mentioned, can control the width of the pitch with his qualities to defend in recovery. 3/5 ground duels won. 2/2 aerial duels won. 3 tackles. 3 interceptions. He had the 2nd most touches (112) and completed the most passes (95/100). Only Rodri made more passes into the final third.

Debut for both McAidoo and Mfuni in this match. The former impressed Pep Lijnders a lot, as you can see from his words post-match. The aggression to attack the box, the intensity in pressing, and his desire to make something happen in the final third. Development is not linear for young players, but he’s gotten the first taste of first-team football on the weekend that hopefully he’ll work towards more of over the next years.

Stephen Mfuni came on to play left-back in place of Nathan Ake, showing his desire to make underlapping runs and get into the box. Then, be more settled as the LCB once Alleyne came off. Like Kompany, he’s of DR Congolese descent, and at his young age, you can see the talent. Like McAidoo, though, he’s only 17 years old and so you shouldn’t be in a rush to see them rack up the first-team minutes. If their attitude in training is the same as we saw on the pitch against Exeter, those minutes will come.

I’d also add that the opposition is often used as a way to downplay the performance of young players, but they do not play every week against grown men. They do not compete in front of 30,000+ people every week. They do not share the pitch and have the pressure of playing alongside Erling Haaland and Rodri every week. These are huge steps for them to make, and the credit should go to the steps they took on the weekend.

Here is the total touches (black) Antoine Semenyo has had in each game this season for Bournemouth, and his touches in the final third (red). I've added his totals from the first game for Manchester City against Exeter in the FA Cup.

There are more details to this in the quality of passes received, the angle he's facing on getting the ball, how isolated he is, and so on. But as you can see, the volume is going to shoot up. Note that he came off after 64 minutes. He’s going to get a lot better opportunities in the final third than he ever did at Bournemouth. They’ll make better use of his runs in behind with the likes of Cherki, Rodri, and Foden to pick them out.

Tijjani Reijnders is on pace to play 34.3 90s across this season and finish with 20 G+A. Surpassing his total last season at Milan with far fewer games played. Gundogan only got 20+ GA across all comps for Manchester City in one season (2020/21), and he played 37.5 90s. This hasn't been Reijnders at his best this season; plenty of ups and downs, but that is still promising totals for his debut season.

Next up for Manchester City is the League Cup semi-final 1st leg against Newcastle (A) on Tuesday, 13th of January at 20:00 (UK). Krafth, Burn, and Osula are all confirmed to be out. Elanga and Murphy both have a good chance to play on Tuesday. Although they are awaiting scans, it’s expected that Schar and Livramento won’t be available either.

In the Premier League match, earlier in the season, Manchester City had more than enough chances to win the game and didn’t take them. They were also not aggressive enough in controlling the transitions or finding the passes through the lines that Newcastle left open. They’ll need to improve on those this week. Only Arsenal, Barcelona, and Liverpool have won at St. James Park this season.

It’s also important to remember what a good result looks like for Manchester City. Newcastle will want to bring a lead to the Etihad, but worst case, a draw is more than fine for City this week.