Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised the effort of Plymouth Argyle after the latter’s FA Cup journey came to end following Saturday’s 3-1 fifth round defeat at the Etihad Stadium, Afrosport reports.
The Citizens fell behind on home soil to Maksym Talovierov’s goal in the 38th minute but a brace from Nico O’Reilly and a Kevin de Bruyne strike in added time turned the tie around.
It ended Plymouth’s adventure in the cup competition which saw them eliminate Brentford and Liverpool in the previous round which Guardiola gave them credit for.
“I don’t take for granted the difficulty when you play an incredibly organised team. I’m not surprised what they did against Liverpool,” he said per the club website.
“It was difficult to challenge them because they are incredibly organised defensively.
“I don’t take for granted how good we have done many, many things. Every step is getting better. Many good things happened.
“Jack [Grealish] played really good. Vitor [Reis] played really good. All of them. Nico. We had a lot of possession with patience because they want to make transitions.
“Really pleased for the performance…”
PEP 💬 I don’t take for granted the difficulty when you play an incredibly organised team. I’m not surprised after what they did against Liverpool.
I don’t take for granted what we did, a good many things. Every step is getting better. Jack [Grealish] played really good, Vitor… pic.twitter.com/kUZfUzbPQt
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 1, 2025
Guardiola went on to praise the performance of O’Reilly, noting the 19-year-old’s all-round game play.
“He’s not a typical player from the Academy because they are all small and have big talent but he has a big, big presence,” the Spaniard added.
“Sometimes we take a good decision otherwise he would not have scored two goals.
“Normally he’s an attacking midfielder and runs to the box really well.
“He adapted really well to the full-back role.
“Nico’s another threat from set-pieces because we are not a tall team.
“He helps us and played really good with the ball, without the ball.
“Two fantastic goals.”
Man City have now reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for the seventh season in a row, reaching at least the semi-final in the previous six editions.
