EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEWCASTLE, England -- No Erling Haaland, no problem for Manchester City.Pep Guardiola shuffled his pack against Newcastle United in the FA Cup fifth round -- including leaving his prolific Norwegian striker at home -- and still came away with a 3-1 win.City had to come from a goal down to book their place in the quarterfinals for the eighth year in a row, but they did it impressively with two goals from Haaland's replacement, Omar Marmoush, and another from Savinho. Guardiola's much-changed team struggled to cope with Newcastle's intensity for the first 30 minutes, only for the Brazilian's equalizer just before halftime to flip the game on its head.- Chelsea give Wrexham's Premier League dream a reality check- Arsenal edge Mansfield in FA Cup, but Arteta still learning the art of rotation- Have two Manchester City targets ended the club's title hopes?City have now won 19 of their past 21 FA Cup ties, with the only two defeats in that period coming in the 2024 and 2025 finals. When you see what their squad is capable of on nights like this, you wouldn't bet against them reaching Wembley for the third season in a row."Except the first 15 or 20 minutes that always happens [against Newcastle] we could not control, but after we were incredible," Guardiola said."I'm really pleased with how we played, how we behaved, offensively, defensively. It's top."Eight times in a row in the quarterfinals."It's many years that we are there and that is so good. Really pleased because the game against Nottingham Forest, we were disappointed. We will be in the [FA Cup] draw on Monday."Guardiola made 10 changes from the team that dropped points in the title race on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw against Forest, with only right back Matheus Nunes keeping his place.But don't tell the City boss it's because he doesn't care about the FA Cup.So passionate were his protests at one of referee Sam Barrott's decisions in the second half that he nearly ripped his own (probably very expensive) coat in the process. And when Marmoush scored the third with an excellent finish from outside the box, Guardiola celebrated so wildly that he felt the need to apologize to fourth official Lewis Smith.Gianluigi Donnarumma, on the bench as understudy to James Trafford, didn't seem quite so sorry for sprinting the length of the touchline to congratulate the Egyptian forward.Marmoush seems to love playing against Newcastle. His two goals were his sixth and seventh against Eddie Howe's side, who by now are sick of the sight of him. Marmoush's first goals in English football came in a hat trick against Newcastle a year ago, following his �60 million move from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025.He got another two in the Carabao Cup semifinal second leg in February and his two on Saturday -- one a relatively simple finish and the other a rocket from 20 yards -- knocked Newcastle out of another cup competition.Half of Marmoush's 14 City goals have come against Newcastle. He averages a goal every 43 minutes. Substituted after 73 minutes, he was given a warm embrace by Guardiola before taking his seat on the bench."I had the feeling that he scored a lot of times against them," Guardiola said."He's a top striker and the finishing, especially his second goal and our third, is his biggest quality. He has to improve in small spaces and his first control, but he deserved it."The last time Guardiola made so many changes, against Bayer Leverkusen in November, it backfired spectacularly and City lost 2-0. He admitted then that he got his team selection wrong. He rolled the dice again against Newcastle and it paid off."It was a risk if we didn't win," Guardiola said."I know what would have happened [with the reaction] like with Leverkusen. From my experience, when we play in all competitions, we have to do it."If we lose, we lose, go home and Newcastle in the next round. But everybody had to play."Sometimes you don't allow them to play many minutes and you always have that feeling. That's why it's nice to be in the competitions because it's nice for them to be involved."With players like Nico Gonzlez, Jrmy Doku, John Stones and Nathan Ak now back from injury, it says something about the strength of City's squad that they were able to make more changes for a trip to UEFA Champions League side Newcastle than Arsenal made for their cup tie against League One side Mansfield Town earlier in the day.It means City head to Real Madrid this week with key men rested and fringe players full of confidence.Haaland, Marc Guhi, Rben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Rodri -- all given the night off -- should come back into the XI at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, while Marmoush will also be pushing to start.All season, Guardiola has been saying that, when March comes, he wants his team to be "alive" in four competitions and have a squad largely fit and in form.As the campaign edges towards its climax, he's got his wish.
