Manchester City’s quadruple hopes are still alive and kicking after Pep Guardiola’s side secured a spot at Wembley with a 2-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Ilkay Gundogan finally broke the home side’s resistance with 86 minutes on the clock as he headed home the rebound after Aymeric Laporte’s shot came off the bar, before Kevin De Bruyne added a late second after running through and smashing a left-footed shot past Joao Virginia in the Everton goal.
Although there were plenty of impressive performances from City as they dominated proceedings against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, the standout performer was arguably Fernandinho in central midfield.
The 35-year-old is still going strong in Guardiola’s side and has shown himself to be a more than reliable cover for Rodri in recent months, which is ironic as the Spaniard was brought in as his long-term replacement.
As per SofaScore, the former Shakhtar Donetsk man would earn an impressive 7.6 rating for his display, with only Oleksandr Zinchenko rated higher from both sides, with the Ukrainian rated a 7.7/10 for his performance.
During the game, the experienced midfielder completed 63 of his 73 passes, which was the most of any City midfielder, whilst both of his long ball attempts also found a City shirt, per SofaScore.
Was Fernandinho City’s best player?
Yes
No
Fernandinho, who reportedly earns £150,000 per week at City, was regularly the winner when in duels with Everton players, as he impressively won 13 of the 20 duels he contested during the game, which again was far more than City’s other midfielders Gundogan and Bernardo Silva combined, per SofaScore.
However, the most impressive and perhaps surprising part of the Brazilian’s performance were his driving runs from midfield, as he completed all four of his dribbles during his time on the pitch, one of which led to City’s best chance before the opening goal as he cut back to Raheem Sterling in the area after a lung-busting run into the area.
Considering he has averaged 0.4 dribbles per game in the Premier League this season, it was almost unprecedented how willing he was to run with the ball against Everton, which emphasises just how good he was.
Therefore, you could definitely argue that the Brazilian was the star for City in the FA Cup and he once again showed just how good he can be when selected by Guardiola.
And, in other news… Txiki can repeat Gundogan masterclass with City swoop for £7.65m-rated beast