January 10, (THEWILL) — Manchester City demolished League One side Exeter City 10-1 in an FA Cup third-round tie that saw Antoine Semenyo mark his reported £65 million arrival from Bournemouth with a goal and an assist.
Max Alleyne opened the scoring in the 12th minute after capitalising on Jack Fitzwater’s poor block, despite Liam Oakes giving the hosts an early scare.
Rodri extended the advantage with a 25-yard strike 12 minutes after the opener, before a catastrophic five-minute spell for Exeter before half-time effectively ended the contest.
Fitzwater inadvertently nodded a Rayan Cherki corner off Jack Doyle-Hayes and into his own net, then deflected Tijjani Reijnders’ pullback past goalkeeper Joe Whitworth for a second own goal.
Semenyo took centre stage after the interval, delivering a precise cross for Rico Lewis to tap in before coolly finishing into the bottom-right corner on 54 minutes.
Reijnders curled a superb effort past Whitworth from distance in the 71st minute, whilst Nico O’Reilly looped a header over the goalkeeper with 11 minutes remaining.
Debutant Ryan McAidoo added a ninth with a powerful low drive from the edge of the penalty area.
George Birch provided Exeter with a moment of consolation in the 90th minute, finding the top-left corner from range with a spectacular strike.
Lewis completed the rout with a volley from the right side of the box in the first minute of stoppage time, capping a comprehensive victory for Pep Guardiola’s side in a thrilling encounter at St James Park.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
