Manuel Akanji delivered a top performance during Manchester City’s FA Cup win over Newcastle United.
After beating Luton Town 6-2 in the fourth round of the competition, the Citizens beat Newcastle 2-0 to secure their place in the semi-finals.
While Bernardo Silva grabbed the headlines by scoring both of City’s goals, one player that we feel deserves a lot of credit for his performance is Akanji.
Akanji wowed in Newcastle victory
Across the 90 minutes, the defender had 70 touches of the ball in total and was able to successfully complete 58 of the 62 passes he attempted, leaving him with a passing accuracy percentage of 94%.
In terms of his defensive work, the 28-year-old, who City paid £15m to sign from Borussia Dortmund back in the 2022 summer transfer window, made three tackles, and two interceptions as well as winning four of the six duels he was involved in.
This performance ultimately earned Akanji an impressive overall match rating of 7.7/10 from SofaScore, leaving only three other City players with higher ratings than him.
The Manchester Evening News also picked up on the centre-back’s solid efforts by giving him a match rating of 8/10 in their player ratings article and saying this about his display.
They said: “The best City player for the second game in a row, marshalling the defence and making important tackles and interceptions throughout.”
Taking all of that into account, we feel that Akanji was Pep Guardiola’s unsung hero in this match and delivered the sort of performance that will put him in with a shout of being in the starting XI for City’s semi-final clash at Wembley.
Looking beyond that, if the defender can keep putting in these sorts of performances, he could well end up lifting the three trophies he helped his side win last season.
