Sheffield Wednesday – Manchester City: City Shake Off Sheffield Pressure To Claim The Win (0-1)

Sheffield Wednesday’s man-marking system did a good job at congesting spaces for the attackers in the first half, achieving an empty scoresheet very few would have expected. That was until City varied their movements, triggering continuous decisional crises for the opposition, ultimately ensuring a deserved victory shortly after the break. 
Tactical analysis and match report by Kareem Bianchi.

Coming off a League Cup final win, Manchester City delved into the FA Cup’s fifth round with the same aspiration for success that guides Guardiola’s team through each game. 

It has not been the ideal Premier League campaign for Guardiola’s side. Nevertheless, Sheffield Wednesday should not have posed much of a threat to the reigning English champions. Sitting in twelfth place in the Championship with only one win in their last nine league games and forty-four goals conceded there seemed to be little hope for Garry Monk’s side.. 

To make matters worse, after rotating his eleven against Aston Villa, Guardiola put out an almost full-strength lineup to secure a smooth qualification to the next round. Nicolás Otamendi and Benjamin Mendy rejoined the backline after their trip to Madrid, while Kyle Walker was rotated, as João Cancelo stepped in at right-back. Bernardo Silva also made his way back into the starting eleven, together with Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez - displacing Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, and Ilkay Gündoğan.

Sheffield made some changes of their own, as Tom Lees was replaced by Dominic Iorfa in central defense. Joey Pelupessy and Alessio Da Cruz also joined the lineup for Kadeem Harris and Steven Fletcher.

Sheffield man-mark with force
From a back three . . .