Manchester City hosted Championship side Middlesbrough in their FA Cup fourth round tie at the Etihad Stadium. It was supposed to be a simple match for the reigning Premier League Champions who had a host of star players at their disposal.
Despite resting a few players, Manchester City still boasted of a very fine starting lineup with the likes of Kompany, Silva and Aguero all featuring alongside Navas and Milner. The strength of the City team was far greater than the Middlesbrough team, but matches are not won on paper.
Middlesbrough certainly looked like a team who wanted the win from the onset. They made their intentions clear from the very start and did not let City dominate them with total ease. Although Manchester City had the possession and played a great deal of the match in their opponent’s half, they were not able to penetrate through a sturdy defense line of the visitors and had little answers to their resilience.
Middlesbrough kept the home side at bay in the first half and came roaring in the second one as they quickly scored through the on-loan Chelsea striker Bamford, who scored in the 53rd minute of the match. The goal sent the visiting fans into raptures and the team was delighted with what they had achieved. Etihad stadium was silenced by the home team going 1-0 down to a Championship side.
Manchester City went forward in search on an equalizer and came close to finding one with Frank Lampard coming off from the bench to come closest to scoring a goal for the hosts. Middlesbrough then struck the outpost but were not going to rue the miss as they went on to claim all three points with an injury time strike from Kike.
The match ended with Middlesbrough knocking Manchester City out of the FA Cup and marching on to the next round.
Final Time: Manchester City 0-2 Middlesbrough
FA Cup: Lackluster City tamed at their home
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