Raheem Sterling gets 3/10 as dreadful Manchester City flame out of FA Cup

Manchester City’s FA Cup dreams came to an end on Saturday night as they were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in their semifinal at Wembley. It was a dismal display from Pep Guardiola’s men from start to finish, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proving to be the match winner courtesy of a goal in each half.

Positives

Last season’s Premier League champions maintained possession well in the early stages of the game and pushed Arsenal back with real confidence, to the point where they were creating unforced errors within the Gunners defensive setup. They didn’t rush forward without a thought, but at the same time, they never let up and constantly kept the ball moving even when it wasn’t going their way.

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Negatives

Every single final ball was lacking any kind of substance, and that can largely be put down to poor communication. That goes for their attacking stars as well as their back four, and if you’re looking for a side with some real unity and cohesion, you certainly won’t find one here. If teams are able to soak up their pressure and hit them on the counter, City seem to crumble more often than not.

Manager rating out of 10

5 — Guardiola stuck with the status quo in regards to his starting XI, but there was something quite one-dimensional in the way they were playing. The Spaniard has always been stubborn in his management style and that was echoed through a repetitive, and frankly unsuccessful, display through large portions of the game. He did make changes, but you could argue they should’ve mixed things up before the hour mark.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Ederson, 6 — City’s keeper may have made two important saves from Shkodran Mustafi and Aubameyang, but he couldn’t prevent the latter from scoring a brace — largely due to him being let down by his defence.

DF Benjamin Mendy, 4 — He may have great power when surging into the opposition’s half, but he really did let himself down for both goals after failing to get to his man for the first before playing Aubameyang onside for the second.

DF Aymeric Laporte, 4 — Lofting gorgeous balls out wide only gets you so far, as Laporte discovered today with another subpar showing across the board.

DF Eric Garcia, 5 — The youngster showed a real lack of composure both on and off the ball, and that bled into his decision making. His instinctive blocks were helpful, but there’s much more to a strong performance than that.

DF Kyle Walker, 4 — The England international won’t want to see Maitland-Niles again anytime soon after an evening of chasing shadows, which included woeful positioning for the two goals.

Raheem Sterling makes his case to referee Jon Moss in Man City’s loss to Arsenal in the FA Cup. Getty Images

MF David Silva, 5 — The veteran was slowing the pace of the game down, but not in a way that was of any real benefit to the favourites. In a rare instance, he lacked the cutting edge that we’re so used to seeing.

MF Ilkay Gundogan, 4 — It was another atrocious day at the office for Gundogan from his heavy touches to being completely dominated in the middle of the park.

MF Kevin De Bruyne, 6 — The Belgian’s delivery wasn’t always on point but he was a consistent threat in the final third, although he faded badly as the game went on.

FW Raheem Sterling, 3 — He had several opportunities to test the keeper and potentially even score, but his day was summed up by a cross that bounced off of the former Liverpool man’s face and fell flat into the arms of Emiliano Martinez.

FW Gabriel Jesus, 3 — There is a real anxiety to Jesus’ play that has rendered him pretty much useless, and today, he went missing in a big way.

FW Riyad Mahrez, 5 — Getting in behind Arsenal was clearly difficult for him, but he did create one of City’s best chances when cutting inside and testing Martinez at the near post in the 54th minute.

Substitutions

MF Rodri, 6 — Couldn’t bring the kind of control to the midfield as many expected he would upon being introduced.

FW Phil Foden, 5 — Tried to help orchestrate some nice moves, but ultimately, he just couldn’t help them break Arsenal down.

MF Fernandinho, N/A — Looked energetic and threw himself around the pitch well enough, but he couldn’t inspire a comeback.