Ukraine’s Zinchenko captains Man City to FA Cup win at Peterborough
أكثر من ٣ سنوات فى The Irish Times
Peterborough 0 Manchester City 2
Oleksandr Zinchenko captained Manchester City to what eventually proved to be a comfortable 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round win at Peterborough.
The Ukraine international was given the honour of leading out the Premier League champions as a show of support against Russia’s invasion of his homeland.
He played the full 90 minutes as second-half efforts from Riyad Mahrez – his 19th of the campaign – and Jack Grealish’s first-ever FA Cup goal secured victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
Peterborough, rock bottom of the Sky Bet Championship, put up a fight but were ultimately outclassed with boss Grant McCann now turning attention back to their survival bid.
Zinchenko was shown crying at the support shown to Ukraine ahead of Saturday’s league win at Everton, where he was an unused substitute.
He captained the side here, walking out as the teams emerged from the tunnel carrying a Ukrainian flag along with Peterborough skipper Frankie Kent.
Pep Guardiola may have made six changes but his side boasted 11 full internationals, the City boss praising Fernandinho for his decision to hand the armband to Zinchenko.
“Our captain decided to give the armband to him, to show how important the situation is,” he told ITV Sport ahead of the game.
“We are all at the club behind this gesture and behind my captain, who represents his country.”
Crystal Palace 2 Stoke City 1
Jairo Riedewald was the unlikely super-sub for Patrick Vieira after his goal eight minutes from time fired Crystal Palace to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Stoke and took them a step closer to Wembley.
Cheikhou Kouyate had seen his early second-half effort for the hosts cancelled out by Josh Tymon’s close-range finish to leave the FA Cup fifth-round tie finely poised.
Vieira, despite needing a winner, turned to Riedewald over two recognised strikers and saw the decision pay dividends with the ex-Ajax player scoring his first goal in 13 months from only his fifth appearance of the season to send the Eagles into the quarter-finals.