Three Biggest Culprits Behind Manchester City’s FA Cup Failure

Shaky in defence, misfiring offense and indecisive in big moments. Here are three players who let the team down the most on the big day.

Omar Marmoush

City were handed a golden ticket when Bernardo Silva was fouled inside the box. But Marmoush, surprisingly trusted with penalty duties over Erling Haaland, fluffed his lines.

Penalty Miss: A tame shot easily saved by Dean Henderson.

Poor Performance: Just 22% duel success, 7 times dispossessed.

Impact: Almost invisible in open play. Guardiola had no choice but to replace him with Claudio Echeverri later in the match.

A big opportunity wasted.

Erling Haaland

Big games need big players. Haaland wasn’t one of them on Saturday.

Passed on the penalty when City needed leadership.

Failed to make runs or offer meaningful movement. 

No goals. No influence.

The same story repeated from the UCL quarter-final against Real Madrid and last year’s FA Cup final loss to United. For all the goals he scores in league play, Haaland goes missing when it counts most.

Manuel Akanji

City were shaky defensively, and Akanji was right at the heart of the mess.

Got turned inside out by Eze for the winning goal.

Failed to communicate with Ruben Dias on several occasions.

Stat sheet: 0 clearances, 0 interceptions, 8 times dispossessed.

He did come close to scoring early with a header, but that doesn't cancel out his poor defending.