City's old guard bailed out their younger and inexperienced team-mates as they made it out alive of a tricky cup tie in east London
Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish answered the call when Manchester City reached out to their most experienced and classiest seniors to get them out of a tricky situation in the FA Cup at Leyton Orient, as last year's runners up survived an early scare to win 2-1.
City, who have reached the semi-finals in all but one of Guardiola's previous eight seasons, were heading for a disastrous exit to the League One side when Tottenham loanee Jamie Donley let fly from the halfway line and crashed his shot against the bar, watching in delight as it tricked in off the back of Stefan Ortega and into the net.
To make matters worse for City, new £50m signing Nico Gonzalez had to be taken off with a suspected back injury after suffering a nightmare debut, along with fellow first-timer Vitor Reis, who was hauled off at half-time. Guardiola introduced John Stones and Abdukodir Khusanov, and later De Bruyne and Foden, although it was starter Grealish who made the real difference.
The England international crossed for Rico Lewis to shoot at goal, with the effort bouncing off Khusanov and into the net. Grealish then found De Bruyne with a sumptuous pass and the Belgian nudged the ball past the excellent Orient goalkeeper Josh Keeley to break the Londoners' hearts.
GOAL rates Man City's players from the Gaughan Group Stadium…
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Stefan Ortega (6/10):
Did well to block Kelman's shot. Completely flummoxed by Donley's enterprising strike although he can't be blamed too much for that.
Rico Lewis (7/10):
Looked far more comfortable going forward than at the back and his calm passing and positioning, not to mention sparking the equaliser, gave City a foothold.
Vitor Reis (4/10):
An unforgiving place to make his English football debut as he struggled to live with Kelman. Taken off at half-time.
Ruben Dias (5/10):
Didn't cope well with Orient's direct approach and hooked at the break, perhaps with Madrid in mind.
Nico O'Reilly (5/10):
This was a world away from the 8-0 win over Salford and he looked completely rattled by his surroundings.
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Ilkay Gundogan (6/10):
Wasted a glorious chance when he got the ball caught under his feet inside the box and scuffed wide but recovered from it by guiding City back from the dead, orchestrating their play through the middle.
Nico Gonzalez (4/10):
A baptism of fire. Displayed some nice passes at first but getting knocked over by Sonny Perkins was a real 'Welcome to the FA Cup' moment and he is now likely to be injured against Real Madrid.
James McAtee (5/10):
Struggled to find space in the first half amid Orient's careful positioning. Coped better in the second and hit the post but was then taken off.
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Savinho (6/10):
His trickery always had Orient on the edge and eventually helped break them down.
Omar Marmoush (5/10):
Had a tough time leading the line throughout and should have done better with his shot which Keeley saved in the first half.
Jack Grealish (8/10):
The FA Cup is becoming his escapism. Pulled City's strings throughout the game and had his prints on both goals.
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Bernardo Silva (6/10)
An ideal replacement for Gonzalez, giving City a calm and experienced head to negotiate their way out of trouble. Had a shot cleared off the line by Donley before half-time.
Abdukodir Khusanov (7/10):
What a way to respond to his nightmare debut. Made a crucial tackle on Kelman to avert a second goal then deflected in the equaliser.
John Stones (6/10):
His passing and close control helped City ease their way back into the game.
Phil Foden (5/10):
Didn't have much of an impact in his 18 minutes.
Kevin De Bruyne (7/10):
Exactly the impact City were hoping for, delivering a deft and killer touch to see them home.
Pep Guardiola (6/10):
His starting XI underestimated Orient's threat but corrected himself with his pro-active substitutions.
