Salford City may have been eliminated from the FA Cup, but they managed to retain their dignity in defeat to Manchester City at Eastlands on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s men ran out 8-0 winners when these two sides met for the first time ever in last season’s competition.
Fears of another thumping were raised when City took an early lead thanks to an own goal from Alfie Dorrington, but the League Two side kept them quiet until Marc Guehi found the net in the 81st minute.
Salford City take ‘immense pride’ from Man City defeat in FA Cup
“We’ve got a huge sense of pride in the performance,” Salford defender Luke Garbett told BBC. “To a man, we were excellent. We created some really good chances in the second half. I was disappointed that my free-kick hit the wall. We had Woodburn in the first half, where Trafford made a good save.
“We’ve been working all week on the shape and I thought we did that to a man today. We started to believe that it’s a real cup tie. ON another day we would’ve got a goal. to come away with 2-0 when it was 8-0 last year shows the club is on the rise.
“I think it’s a totally different feel. It was demoralising. Our confidence dipped.
“Anything is possible. They are a world-class team and they are going to create chances and score good goals but we kept that to a minimum today. We are a match for anyone. We have to focus on recovering right now and it’s a massive game on Tuesday against Newport.”
Salford manager Karl Robinson added: “Immense amount of pride. I said before we wanted to learn if this football club wants to grow, we have to go through difficult moments.
“Until the changes they made in the 75th minute, I don’t recall chance after chance. But they’re always going to have chances when you’re geniuses because that’s what they are.”
The draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup will take place on Monday evening.
Read – Premier League Awards: Anxious Arsenal and Sesko’s stunner
See Also – The highest-spending leagues in world football in 2025/26