REPORT: PETERBOROUGH UNITED 0, MANCHESTER CITY 2: The dream was on for an hour and a great chance was missed before City eased into the FA Cup quarter-finals

Peterborough United defended with great skill, determination and organisation against a star studded Manchester City side in this FA Cup fifth round tie at the Weston Homes Stadium (March 1) .

Ricky-Jade Jones’ pace was keeping the visiting defence honest as Posh waited for that one opportunity to strike first and possibly cause panic in a City side who had played well below normal standards.

And that chance arrived three minutes into the second half and just after Pep Guardiola had changed both centre-backs.

Joe Ward’s long throw was flicked on and found Sammie Szmodics in front of his marker six yards from goal. Sadly he fluffed his lines, possibly because he was tired as one of 10 outfield players to have run themelves into the ground, and with it went the chance of the greatest upset in Posh history.

City took the warning on board and scored twice in nine second-half minutes through Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish to take their customary place in the quarter-finals.

Posh boss Grant McCann delivered a selection headline by starting local teenager, and FA Cup specialist, Jones up front ahead of Jonson Clarke-Harris and Jack Marriott. Jeando Fuchs, Hayden Coulson and Kwame Poku all returned to the starting line-up following the Hull horror show at the weekend.

City were clearly taking the game seriously. They fielded a team that didn’t include Kevin De Bruyne or Raheem Sterling, but still contained an awesome array of talent. The captaincy was given to Ukranian international Oleksandr Zinchenko, who drew a huge pre-match round of applause from all sides of the ground just for having his name read out.

The game followed the anticipated pattern, except City didn’t score in the first-half. Incredibly they failed to register a shot on target in 45 minutes against the team with the third worst defensive record in the country.

A disciplined defensive performance, often involving all 11 players, saw to that. City were frustrated early on by the playing suraface with Zinchenko, Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish all caught out by a bobble when lining up shots, but when they did come to terms with the pitch they were rebuffed by a blue defensive wall.

Crosses and attempted sliderule passes were often intercepted, while Posh won all the headers inside their own area that mattered. Remarkably City ‘keeper Edersen made more saves in the first-half than Posh number one Benda. The Brazilian kept out a low shot from Fuchs at his near post after a fine Joe Ward pass in the 10th minute.

Benda’s biggest concern arrived in the second minute when Gabriel Jesus blocked his attempted clearance with the ball rebounding to safety.

On the half-hour Ilkay Gudogan snapped a 20 yarder just wide and the same player nodded past a post just before the break. Grealish, who wasn’t looking like a £100 million player, found a path inside the penalty area, but sliced horribly over the crossbar. Gabriel Jesus escaped beyond the Posh defence in added time, but couldn’t get the ball under control.

The Posh plan was obviously to defend deep and try and use Jones’ pace to trouble the City defence. Nathan Ake was undone by the 19 year-old and accepted a caution for bringing him down.

Ronnie Edwards strode impressively out of defence to feed Kwame Poku whose shot at goal was deflected.

A couple of minutes after the Szmodics’ miss Josh Knight burst into the penalty area, slipped a fine pass to Grant, but Phil Foden raced back in the nick of time to save the day.

City inevitably settled again and Mahrez dribbled into the Posh area to open the scoring with a precise finish on the hour mark. And eight minutes later Grealish pounced on a fine crossfield pass for 2-0.

Game over. The City fans even started singing out of relief rather than joy after a performance way short of their side’s best.

Posh made a triple sub with 20 minutes left and Jack Marriott could have scored with his first touch. The passing accuracy of Fuchs and Grant wasn’t equalled by the substitute’s shot which was hit well, but straight at Edersen.

The loss of Jones stifled Posh. The easy out ball had gone and City dominated the remainder of the game. Benda saved well from Mahrez, Kent blocked a great strike from the same player and Mahrez lifted the ball high and wide while under great pressure from Knight.

Foden tested Benda from distance, while Grealish forced a splendid tip over save from the ‘keeper before Aymeric Laporte missed an open goal in injury time.

A third goal would have been very harsh on Posh. They would still have been able to hold their heads up high though. This was a performance and scoreline better than most would have expected.

Posh: Steven Benda, Hayden Coulson (sub Bali Mumba, 79 mins), Frankie Kent, Ronnie Edwards, Josh Knight, Joe Ward (sub Harrison Burrows, 77 mins), Jeando Fuchs, Jorge Grant, Sammie Szmodics (sub Reece Brown, 71 mins), Kwame Poku (sub Jack Marriott, 71 mins), Ricky-Jade Jones (sub Jonson Clarke-Harris, 71 mins).

Unused subs: Dai Cornell, Mark Beevers, Kyle Barker, Kai Corbett.

Man City: Ederson, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias (sub John Stones, 46 mins), Nathan Ake (sub Aymeric Laporte, 46 mins), Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus.

Unused subs: Scott Carson, Cieran Slicker, Raheem Sterling, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva.

Goals: City - Mahrez (61 mins), Grealish (68 mins).

Cautions: Posh - Szmodics (aggressive attitude).

City - Ake (foul), Fernandinho (aggressive attitude).

Referee: Andrew Madley 8.

Attendance: 13,205 (2,462).