Pep Guardiola: Man City winning FA Cup won't salvage poor season

Pep Guardiola: Man City winning FA Cup won't salvage poor season

Pep Guardiola has stated that winning the FA Cup will not salvage Manchester City's disappointing season.

City secured their place in the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Guardiola's side has made it to the last eight of the competition for the seventh consecutive year, but he admits that even lifting the trophy won't compensate for losing the Premier League title and their early exit from the Champions League.

"It's better to win the treble or quadruple, come on," Guardiola remarked.

"This season, especially in two competitions, we've not been good. And that's the reality.

"We didn't qualify for the first time (for the last-16) of the Champions League since we've been here, and in the Premier League, with 13, 14, or 15 games left, we have no chance of winning (the title). That's never happened. The season has not been good."

City had to come from behind against Plymouth, who had previously eliminated Liverpool in the last round, after Maksym Talovierov gave the Championship side the lead.

Nico O'Reilly, playing out of position as a makeshift left-back, equalized just before halftime and added a second after the break. Kevin De Bruyne sealed the win with a third goal in the final minute.

O'Reilly, 19, had attracted interest from Chelsea during the January transfer window, but City turned down a late bid.

"Sometimes you make a good decision, otherwise he wouldn't have scored two goals today," said Guardiola.

"He's not your typical academy player. He's a physical presence, more of a number 10, I would say. He can play in several positions. He's a threat from set pieces because he's strong. I'm really pleased for him because he helped us a lot."

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