Manchester City had to dig deep to overcome a spirited Leyton Orient side, eventually sealing a 2-1 win in the FA Cup fourth round thanks to a late Kevin De Bruyne strike.
Orient took a shock lead in the first half after Jamie Donley’s audacious long-range effort rattled the bar, rebounded off Stefan Ortega, and rolled into the net. City dominated possession but struggled to break down a well-drilled Orient defense, with keeper Josh Keeley pulling off heroics to keep the underdogs in front at the break.
Pep Guardiola rang the changes, and City’s pressure finally paid off in the 56th minute when Rico Lewis’ shot took a fortunate deflection off Abdukodir Khusanov to level the score.
Despite Orient’s fearless attacking bursts, City’s quality eventually showed. Jack Grealish’s lofted ball set up De Bruyne, who ghosted in behind the defense and coolly flicked home the winner in the 79th minute.
It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t easy, but City march on. Orient, though, leave with heads held high after pushing the English champions to the limit.
