Teenager Nico O’Reilly scored two goals to help Manchester City defeat Championship strugglers Plymouth 3-1 and secure their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Plymouth, who had dispatched Liverpool in the previous round, were eyeing another Premier League scalp. They briefly looked to be on their way to doing so through Maksym Talovierov’s header in the first half. The Ukrainian defender sent the travelling supporters into raptures.
However, the lead would last just a few minutes. Nineteen-year-old O’Reilly equalised for City shortly before half-time, scoring his first goal for the club.
Despite the hosts’ dominance, Plymouth weathered the pressure for a good portion of the second half. City, though, found another breakthrough courtesy of O’Reilly, who found the net again on 77 minutes with a header to give Pep Guardiola’s side the lead.
The final City blow was landed when Erling Haaland drilled across a ball for Kevin De Bruyne to tap in.
Elsewhere,
Bournemouth reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for just the third time in their history after defeating Wolves 5-4 in a penalty shootout, following a 1-1 draw.
Evanilson opened the scoring for the Cherries, but Matheus Cunha equalized for Wolves, forcing extra time. Cunha was later sent off, and Bournemouth capitalized on the advantage to win the shootout.
Crystal Palace advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over 10-man Millwall. Jean-Philippe Mateta was stretchered off with a nasty injury after being caught in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts, who was red-carded. Palace capitalized on the man advantage, scoring through a Japhet Tanganga own goal, Daniel Munoz, and Eddie Nketiah.
Finally, Preston reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 1966 with a 3-0 win over Burnley.
