James McAtee shows his class for Man City as Class of ’92 are denied an upset

David Beckham and Gary Neville may have sensed it would not be a giant-killing evening, choosing to skip Salford City’s short trip to the Premier League champions where James McAtee took centre-stage with a hat-trick.

McAtee had to be reminded to collect the match ball at full-time. He was caught up in the moment as City supporters chanted: “We want 10.” With Divin Mubama scoring on debut and Jack Grealish netting his first club goals in more than a year, McAtee’s treble had put them within sight of double figures.

“I’ve been here since I was 10 and it’s a special moment for me, something I’ll remember forever,” said McAtee. “I don’t think I needed to prove myself but to get out there and show people what I can do, it’s a good moment for me.”

Pep Guardiola now has a decision to make on McAtee. Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Mainz and Borussia Dortmund want to take the 22-year-old to Germany as they look for the next English talent to nurture in Bundesliga.

McAtee has not started a game in the Premier League this season but has made positive contributions off the bench recently. City rarely stand in the way of players wanting to leave but can they afford to lose him with the squad hit by injuries this season?

“He’s a special talent, the generation from Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Jadon Sancho, Romeo Lavia. He played with all the players who already play in the Premier League. He was a main player there, the captain, a City fan. He’s another talent that we trust a lot, like Divin our striker.

“James is an exceptional guy with a talent and has a sense of goal, loves to make runs at the last moment, he has work ethic and is aggressive.”

McAtee seized the moment on a one-sided evening. While there were ingredients for an upset — the League Two club owned by some of Manchester United’s greatest players facing their rivals— the reality was that any dream of a shock was gone when Jérémy Doku scored after eight minutes. City then carried on scoring.

Mubama seized his chance to shine in the first match Erling Haaland has not started since October. The 20-year-old, who left West Ham United last summer, tapped in from Matheus Nunes’s cross to stake his claim to be Haaland’s understudy.

City have been in the market for players during the January transfer window, with a forward on their radar to ease Haaland’s workload. In Divan they have a genuine, mobile No 9, whose physical battle against a grizzled centre-back in Curtis Tilt, 33, will have done him no harm. Before the break Nico O’Reilly had added a third goal with a neat finish.

By the time Grealish scored his penalty in the second half, there was barely a celebration as the tie was long gone. It ended a remarkable run of 13 months without a club goal for Grealish, whose form saw him dropped from the England squad for the European Championship last summer.

This match was hardly a gauge for where City are. They have played poorly even when winning recently but, even amid a biggest crisis under Guardiola, ran out easy winners.

For the 5,500 in the away end at the Etihad, there would be no stunning result to add to their club’s incredible rise over the past decade, with the Class of ’92 taking over when they were in the Northern Premier League. But they could only have imagined a fixture such as this when they flew through non-league football with four promotions in five years.

Guardiola had clearly done his homework on Salford, reeling off their recent statistics instantly when asked about the fourth-tier club before the tie. “The last six games have been clean sheets and victories,” he recalled.

Without Beckham or Neville, the Class of ’92 were represented in the directors’ box by Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who watched on as Salford’s players gave everything to ensure their fans a Cup memory.

Ryan Giggs was in the technical area, assisting Karl Robinson as he has been during their recent run of wins. City fans did not spare Giggs from taunts about his life away from the football pitch.

Guardiola had started the match with just two defenders on the pitch in Nathan Aké and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, with the rest of the outfield team comprised of midfielders and forwards. He also took Aké off at half-time, which may have been down to playing in the Premier League on Tuesday against Brentford. His bench had the look of players who would be starting at the Gtech Community Stadium.

McAtee, who has also been on the radar of clubs looking to offer regular first-team football, added the fifth goal when he steered in Doku’s cross with a crisp finish. He tapped in another after Doku had scored a penalty, then slid in for his hat-trick.

“I’m so proud of them,” said Salford manager Karl Robinson. “If you said we’d concede eight goals in seven games I would have taken it, but I didn’t expect all eight goals to come in one game. We’ll be better for it when we get back to work next week.”

08:14 PM GMT

Thanks for reading

Pep Guardiola certainly enjoyed that relentless, buoyant Manchester City performance.

That’s it from us, thanks for reading.

08:12 PM GMT

Pep Guardiola: McAtee is a special player

Pep Guardiola speaks to the BBC. There was a delay as he had invited Salford City’s players into the home dressing room:

Does it give him food for thought going forward in terms of playing him?

On Jack Grealish’s first competitive goal since December 2023:

Does he feel City are over the worst of it?

08:01 PM GMT

Salford City manager Karl Robinson speaks to the BBC

07:52 PM GMT

8-0? Once in a blue moon

07:50 PM GMT

Jack Grealish building confidence

Grealish has had a rough time of late, but a penalty - a goal at last, hallelujah - and brace of assists can only help him as he seeks his beguiling best again.

“He has shown a reaction today,” pundit Alan Shearer says on the Beeb. “Ok, it’s against a League Two team but from his point of view, it doesn’t matter. He’s now got to produce this every single week, not just now and again. We know confidence football is huge, the belief that gives you going forward will be huge.”

07:45 PM GMT

The first of many?

07:43 PM GMT

Salford City’s bittersweet day

Long faces from the Salford City players, as they walk around the cavernous stadium, applauding fans who made the short trip. A special memory, even if it was a trouncing which did not show their best.

Next weekend, it’s back to reality, at home to Fleetwood Town as the team in third place push for the automatic promotion spots in League Two.

07:41 PM GMT

James McAtee speaks to the BBC

James McAtee is smiling broadly, walking off the pitch with the match ball in his arms before doing his media duties:

07:38 PM GMT

Full-time: Manchester City 8 Salford City 0

A Gundogan shot is well saved by Matty Young, and that is the final touch of the match. Josh Smith blows the whistle and ends Salford City’s misery.

Manchester City at their pacy, clinical, relentless best this evening. It’s only Salford City, but that will give them confidence. The display of young guns like Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, Mubama and McAtee will give Guardiola a lot of pleasure too.

07:36 PM GMT

89th min: Manchester City 8 Salford City 0

Kovacic tries to deftly flick a ball over the defence at close quarters for McAtee, but Tilt heads into his own goalkeeper’s hands.

Salford City had won six in a row before this.

07:33 PM GMT

86th min: Manchester City 8 Salford City 0

That was the chance for Salford City. John Taylor finds rare room and is put through. He goes for power and his shot cannons off Ederson’s midriff and out for a corner.

16-year-old Will Wright comes on for a few memorable minutes at the Etihad, replacing Adelakun.

07:30 PM GMT

Poor Salford City...

07:28 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 8 Salford City 0 (McAtee)

Manchester City have eight. Eight goals.

And it’s a hat-trick for Salford-born James McAtee. Jack Grealish picked him out with a pinpoint pass and the 22-year-old swept it into the bottom corner. Bit of a messy connection but the goalkeeper was nowhere near it.

07:26 PM GMT

80th min: Manchester City 7 Salford City 0

A quick check of the stats reveals it is less than two years since City last won a match 7-0. In the Champions League, they smashed RB Leipzig by that margin in March 2023, with Erling Haaland scoring five.

This kind of target practice might leave a few scars for the younger Salford City players. They haven’t been strong or positive enough, and the gulf in class has shown.

What can you really learn from a walloping like this?

07:24 PM GMT

Some missed substitutions in all the action

Manchester City’s two-goal hero trots off:

Doku → Kovacic

For the away side:

Lund → McAleny

Kouassi → Stockton

07:22 PM GMT

76th min: Manchester City 7 Salford City 0

So close from Salford City. Stockton capitalised on slow play out from substitute Kovacic to nick the ball and shot a metre wide of the right post. Good hustling.

07:20 PM GMT

74th min: Manchester City 7 Salford City 0

The home fans are doing the Poznan, absolutely loving this. Seems a tad distasteful when playing League Two opposition, shades of Antony celebrating uproariously against Newport County.

But hey, 7-0 wins don’t come around very often. There is time for more too.

07:18 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 7 Salford City 0 (McAtee)

Now it’s a second for James McAtee.

On the edge of the six-yard box, he took all the venom off a mishit shot from Phil Foden, controlled the ball and smartly put it past Young.

This is a trouncing, no doubt about it.

07:15 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 6 Salford City 0 (Doku, pen)

Goal number two for Jeremy Doku, dispatching it low into the right corner of the goal. Things go from bad to worse for Salford City.

07:15 PM GMT

67th min: Manchester City 5 Salford City 0

Another penalty for Manchester City.

Acres of space for the home side on the right, and Foden found Doku bathing in it as he wafted through midfield. The Belgian motored into the box and captain Curtis Tilt blocked his shot with his shoulder. Isn’t he on a yellow card?

07:10 PM GMT

64th min: Manchester City 5 Salford City 0

Heaven knows the Salford City fans are miserable now. There could be a goal or more to come.

Adelekan slashes a low shot just past the post down the other end, but Man City’s ascendancy is resumed down the other end. Whenever they come forward, they look like scoring.

07:08 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 5 Salford City 0 (McAtee)

James McAtee is the latest bright, young Man City thing to get on the scoreline. It all came from the quick feet of Jeremy Doku, outpacing his man down the right after Nunes spotted his run.

McAtee got to his low cross first and finished well, using the ball’s pace to take it past the diving young. The snappy move elicits applause from Guardiola.

07:06 PM GMT

61st min: Manchester City 4 Salford City 0

City build from the back, with Ederson and Gundogan passing it between one another before the goalkeeper goes more direct.

Curtis Tilt gets a yellow card for going through the back of Mubama, seeking to receive Ederson’s ball. Took the man first, barely got the ball. An industrial League Two challenge if ever I saw one.

07:03 PM GMT

58th min: Manchester City 4 Salford City 0

Karl Robinson rings the changes for Salford City:

Mnoga → Taylor

Ashley → Watson

07:01 PM GMT

56th min: Manchester City 4 Salford City 0

Phil Foden comes on for Savinho. Guardiola is hardly going easy on his neighbours here.

06:59 PM GMT

53rd min: Manchester City 4 Salford City 0

Salford City enjoy a good four-minute spell. Adelakan shoots high and wide, then Akanji boots away a Shephard cross on the other flank.

All their fans can hope for is a consolation goal to cheer now.

06:56 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 4 Salford City 0 (Grealish, pen)

Grealish dusts himself off, picks up the ball and slots the penalty into the left-corner. Young dives to the other side. That is Grealish’s first competitive goal since December 2023, a little pick-me-up for his self-belief, no doubt.

Exactly the kind of football that Karl Robinson did not want see. That was an absolute gift.

06:54 PM GMT

47 mins: Manchester City 3 Salford City 0

Penalty for Manchester City after some diabolical defending.

Tilt’s careless backpass wasn’t hard enough and Mubama ran in and got to the ball first. He squared it unselfishly to Grealish, who was taken out by a Salford defender as he shaped to shoot.

06:51 PM GMT

Akanji on for Ake

One substitution at half-time: Manuel Akanji comes on for Nathan Ake at the back for Manchester City. Here we go for the second half.

06:49 PM GMT

Mubama impresses Shearer

On the Beeb during the break, Alan Shearer was purring over the movement of Manchester City debutant Divin Mubama. He joined the Premier League champions in the summer from West Ham, where he scored a goal in the Europa Conference League as an 18-year-old.

06:40 PM GMT

Scenes from the first half

06:35 PM GMT

Half-time: Manchester City 3 Salford City 0

Manchester City have rarely been over-extended and have been clinical when they needed to be. The job is technically half done, but it’s already well done. No chance of a cupset here.

Nunes and Savinho have been particularly incisive down the right - not just on the attack, but in retrieving possession, nipping at Salford City heels.

The League Two team have not had a moment to think on the ball, given the aggressive press.

06:33 PM GMT

45th min: Manchester City 3 Salford City 0

There are three minutes of first-half stoppage time to be played. Just when I was going to praise Salford City for some dangerous chances, their illustrious opponents went up the other end and scored another. O’Reilly’s marker dropped off him, and they were punished.

It could be a long night for the minnows.

06:30 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 3 Salford City 0 (O’Reilly)

Nico O’Reilly gets his first senior goal for Manchester City. He started the move down the left, playing the ball to Doku.

The Belgian returned the ball after beating his man to the byline and the 19-year-old took a touch before rolling the ball low into the right corner. The Salford goalie didn’t even move.

06:28 PM GMT

40 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

Grealish and Gundogan crunch into Lund in the midfield and Salford have a free-kick 30 yards out from goal.

They play it short, Adelakun delivers excellently to Kouassi on the six-yard box, but he miscues left of the goal. Any touch straight would probably have been a later.

Moments later, Lund is played in, but runs wide to get the ball under control as Ederson comes out to narrow the angle.

06:25 PM GMT

38 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

Patient pass and move possession football from the home team around the edge of the box before Doku pulls the trigger with a speculative shot, blocked by a Mnoga leg.

They go again down the other flank, feeding Savinho, whose effort lands in Row Z. Still, Manchester City are dispatching their opponents without getting out of second gear.

06:22 PM GMT

36 mins: Salford City 2 Manchester City 0

Salford’s first chance, as on-loan striker Kylian Kouassi takes on half the City defence. Pushed slightly wide, he gets a low shot away but Ederson dives to his left to gather easily. Decent play from the League Two high-flyers.

06:20 PM GMT

34 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

A Doku ball runs short and Salford have a chance to break... but Savinho tracks back well to pinch the ball off Adelakun.

06:19 PM GMT

Kyle Walker’s future up in the air

Pep Guardiola was asked about Kyle Walker’s future at his pre-match press conference yesterday.

“I don’t know,” was the answer he gave when asked about Walker staying. He almost left the club in 2023 but was persuaded to stay and sign a new contract, which has one full season left.

“Maybe he isn’t playing the minutes like in the past. Rico (Lewis) is playing really well, of course the central defenders, and Josko (Gvardiol) is playing well. I decide for that,” said Guardiola.

06:17 PM GMT

31 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

Doku has space to run and weave into the box, but Matty Lund blocks his effort. Good defending from the experienced campaigner, who started his career at Stoke City, back when they were in the Prem.

If he’d been outfoxed, that may well have been a third goal.

06:15 PM GMT

29 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

Any mis-control or ponderous moment from a Salford City player on the ball is being pounced upon. A Garbutt daisy-cutter cross from the left bounces off Nunes’ legs and possession returns to the home team.

06:13 PM GMT

26 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

There is a pause in play as Matty Young, Salford City’s goalkeeper on loan from Sunderland, is down receiving treatment. The England under-20 international has been linked to Manchester City recently.

The game resumes; Young will be a busy customer this evening.

06:10 PM GMT

23 mins: Manchester City 2 Salford City 0

Shephard and Savinho tussle for a ball as it rolls out and the Brazilian ends up in the photographer’s pit, slightly below pitch level. He is not best pleased, with a few words for the Salford City defender as he proffers a hand in apology.

06:07 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 2 Salford City 0 (Mubama)

It’s a goal on debut for 20-year-old attacker Divin Mubama.

Nunes and Savinho linked up down the right and no defender tracked the right-back’s run into the box. Savinho clipped the ball past Young into the six-yard box and it was the simplest of finishes for the sliding Mubama into an empty net. Textbook Guardiola-ball.

06:05 PM GMT

19 mins: Manchester City 1 Salford City 0

Liam Shephard wipes out Jeremy Doku in the air. The referee waves play on as the home side attack, but that will surely be a yellow card. There were audible gasps around the Etihad, but the Belgian is back up and running around.

06:02 PM GMT

15 mins: Manchester City 1 Salford City 0

Grealish uses his strength to hold off his man, then spins and drives towards the box. A block from Garbutt to his shot gives City a corner.

Simpson-Pusey rises to a flick at the back post, but his header is cleared off the line by on-loan Salford City striker Kouassi.

06:00 PM GMT

12 mins: Manchester City 1 Salford City 0

Doku leaves a Salford City midfielder in his wake but shoots wide from 25 yards out.

Salford City have not settled, getting precious few seconds on the ball before giving it away or being hustled off it by their pressing opponents. They could do with a shot or two to build confidence.

05:59 PM GMT

Former Red in the firing line

Nico O’Reilly is starting at left-back. Jack Grealish is in the No10 role behind Mubama.

“Gary Neville is a w*****” is the opening chant from the City fans.

05:56 PM GMT

GOAL! Manchester City 1 Salford City 0 (Doku)

An error from Ossama Ashley, who chested a ball down into Nunes’ path, is punished by the Premier League champions.

With five in blue haring towards the goal, he played it to Grealish. The England international laid it off to Jeremy Doku for a classy, curling finish back across the goal and into the right-hand corner.

Clinical, nerve-settling stuff from Manchester City.

05:53 PM GMT

7 mins: Manchester City 0 Salford City 0

Doku lights the after-burners down the wing and a Salford slide takes it out for the game’s first corner. Captain Curtis Tilt gets his bonce on it for an authoritative clearance.

One wonders how the League Two side will be able to face this Man City pace when their legs tire late in the game. So far, no issues.

05:52 PM GMT

4 mins: Manchester City 0 Salford City 0

Nunes feeds Savinho down the right after breaking away from a mistimed challenged. He attempts to find space, cutting into a congested penalty area and plays the ball square to Nico O’Reilly, who blazes well wide from 25 yards out.

05:48 PM GMT

2 mins: Manchester City 0 Salford City 0

The home team kicks off. Matheus Nunes appears to be starting as right-back.

Savinho finds an opening on the right and the first of what will be many balls into their goalmouth goes straight to a Salford City defender. No danger there.

05:45 PM GMT

A reminder of the line-ups

Manchester City (poss 3-2-4-1): Ederson; Simpson-Pusey, Ake, Nunes; Gundogan (c), O’Reilly; McAtee, Doku, Grealish, Savinho; Mubama.

Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Kovacic, Haaland, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Akanji, Foden, Lewis.

Salford City: Young; Mnoga, Berkoe, Ashley, Garbutt; Lund, Ashley, Fornah; Shephard, Adelakun, Kouassi.

Substitutes: Jones, Watson, Stockton, Taylor, Chester, McAleny, Malcolm, Heys, Wright

05:44 PM GMT

The teams emerge from the tunnel

Short sleeves from several of the mascots. Very brave in these conditions.

Manchester City line up in their sky blue home kit with white shorts; Salford City are in red tops with white shorts and socks.

Emerging from the tunnel two minutes before kick-off, Pep Guardiola shares warm embraces with Salford City director of football Ryan Giggs and manager Karl Robinson.

05:42 PM GMT

Pep Guardiola speaks to the BBC

On debutant Divin Mubama up front:

05:38 PM GMT

Salford City’s 15-year-old on the bench

Marshall Heys made FA Cup history when he came on against Shrewsbury in the first round two months ago. Plucked from the youth team, the attacker is still ten months from his 16th birthday. It will be a story if he gets minutes, let alone if he scores.

He makes Luke Littler look like a veteran campaigner.

05:33 PM GMT

Will Salford City’s management be laughing tonight?

05:28 PM GMT

Salford City’s remarkable rise

Salford City manager Karl Robinson is a charismatic and experienced operator who knows the scale of the task facing his side.

He has been the architect of several giant-killings, perhaps most memorably when MK Dons dismantled Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United 4-0 in the League Cup in 2014.

“A moment of brilliance or human error is going to happen. It is how you deal with it,” Robinson was heard shouting at his players. Jason Burt went behind the scenes during their preparation, talking to Scholes and co-owner Ryan Giggs.

Robinson will be in the dugout alongside Giggs, the club’s director of football. It is the Welshman’s first role since being found not guilty of assaulting former girlfriend.

It has been a remarkable journey for Salford City. When the Class of ‘92 consortium took over the club in 2014, they were in British football’s eighth tier, the Northern Premier League Division One North.

Following four promotions in five years, they rose into the Football League and the owners have their sights set on League One after “stagnating a little,” in the words of Scholes.

05:10 PM GMT

Man City and Salford City line-ups

Here are the line-ups in black and white. Manchester City won’t be shy to run at their opposition, with that lethal trio of Doku, Grealish and Savinho likely to pose problems. There are nine changes to the team which beat West Ham 4-1 last weekend.

As Mike mentioned, there is no room for Kyle Walker in the squad, but it is a tactical decision. Gundogan captains the team.

The squad has Premier League pedigree in their line-up, courtesy of former Everton and England under-21 player Luke Garbutt, shoring up their defence.

Salford City’s top scorer Cole Stockton drops to the bench, alongside 15-year-old Marshall Heys. Makes Luke Littler look like a pensioner.

Manchester City (poss 3-2-4-1): Ederson; Simpson-Pusey, Ake, Nunes; Gundogan (c), O’Reilly; McAtee, Doku, Grealish, Savinho; Mubama.

Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Kovacic, Haaland, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Akanji, Foden, Lewis.

Salford City: Young; Mnoga, Berkoe, Ashley, Garbutt; Lund, Ashley, Fornah; Shephard, Adelakun, Kouassi.

Substitutes: Jones, Watson, Stockton, Taylor, Chester, McAleny, Malcolm, Heys, Wright.

Referee: Josh Smith

04:59 PM GMT

Guardiola’s attack-happy approach

Pep Guardiola hands Divin Mubama, 20, his Manchester City debut after he left West Ham last summer and moved to the Etihad. The England Under-20 international is a striker - and Pep Guardiola has a team full of attackers to face Salford.

Nathan Ake and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey are centre-backs but the rest of the team are midfielders and attackers. Matheus Nunes could step in at right-back. It will be interesting to see how they line up at kick-off.

No Kyle Walker in the squad. It is a tactical decision, rather than the England full-back being injured.

04:52 PM GMT

Salford City’s starting line-up

04:47 PM GMT

The Man City XI is out

Jack Grealish gets a rare start, while Jeremy Doku and Savinho also make the XI. Ederson is in goal, returning from injury. There is also game time for young talents James McAtee, Divin Mubama and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.

04:43 PM GMT

Brr, the mercury is showing zero degrees out in Eastlands

04:37 PM GMT

Minnows look to conjure magic against mighty neighbours

Good afternoon and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live, minute-by-minute coverage of the FA Cup third round match between Manchester City and Salford City.

It does not get much more local than this. Their stadiums may only be separated by four miles, but the seven-time cup winners are 64 places higher than them in the system.

For those looking for some Magic of the Cup™, the League Two high-flyers - owned by several Class of 1992 members - have the form and confidence to not be cowed into parking the bus.

They have won their last six on the bounce, rising to third in the table. Reminiscent of, well, Manchester City about eight months ago.

However, Pep Guardiola’s team have stopped the rot by winning their last two matches. The Spaniard is likely to blood several of Manchester City’s best and brightest academy talents at the Etihad Stadium. Ederson could be called upon between the sticks, as he is back from injury.

“I’ve lived in Salford for the last eight years so I will be playing against my neighbourhood, my home town,” Guardiola said in yesterday’s pre-match press conference. “Hopefully we can do a good game and make it three wins in a row - it’s a long time since it happened.”

The monied home side should have far too much quality and cutting edge for their opponents, but an unlikely Salford City shock would certainly put a smile on the face of owners Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs (who is also director of football), Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and David Beckham.

In an extensive interview with Jason Burt, Salford-born Scholes called this the “biggest game” in the club’s history. “For a club like us to get this far is like winning it,” he said.

Kick-off is at 5.45pm GMT, team news is on the way shortly.

Last but not least, third-round replays have been scrapped, so if the scores are level at full-time, 30 minutes of extra time and penalties will be played to decide the tie.