Manchester City 8-0 Salford City – FA Cup result as James McAtee scores hat-trick and Citizens net eight goals in rout

James McAtee scored a hat-trick as Manchester City cruised past League Two opposition Salford City 8-0.

Pep Guardiola’s side were dominant from the outset with Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku pulling the strings.

Doku opened the scoring with just eight minutes gone before 20-year-old forward Divin Mubama marked his debut with a second goal.

Salford’s best opportunity of the game came three minutes before the break, but Kylian Kouassi failed to connect properly with his effort from a floated cross.

Two minutes later City were out of sight with 19-year-old wing-back Nico O'Reilly making it 3-0.

City dominated the second half with Grealish scoring from the penalty spot before McAtee netted a hat-trick and Doku the other.

Salford City boss Karl Robinson said that he will not have to pick his side up despite losing 8-0 against Manchester City.

The League Two promotion hopefuls said that his side came up against "great" opposition.

"Tonight, Manchester City and Pep showed why they are who they are," Robinson told Match of the Day.

"Some of our defending was the worst I’ve seen, but you expect that against the quality of the opposition.

"This is just a glimmer of where we want to be and we know that we’ve got so much to improve.

"I’m incredibly proud, yes we made human errors and we can’t afford to allow great teams chances through our stupidity.

"We will be better because of today."

TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League, as well as exclusive Premier League games across the 2024-25 season.

The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.

Any matches that fall within the Saturday blackout window in the UK cannot be shown live. The blackout window prohibits matches being shown on television between 14:45 and 17:15 in the UK.

Hat-trick hero James McAtee says that scoring his first goal at the Etihad was a ‘special moment’ for him before going on to score two more.

The 22-year-old midfielder has been at City since being a youngster and impressed on loan at Sheffield United last season.

"I was quite frustrated as in the first half I wasn’t seeing much of the ball," he told Match of the Day.

"When the first one went in I was just relieved and my confidence was up. I've been here since I've been 10 or 11 so to score the first goal was a special moment for me and I’ll remember it forever.

"I didn’t need to prove myself necessarily, but to get out there and show people what I can do was a good moment for me."

It was a vintage Manchester City performance, which we have been used to before the last few months.

Doku and Grealish ran the show and tortured the Salford wingers. It was a relentless display and youngsters O’Reilly and McAtee could find themselves with further opportunities in the next round.

McAtee deserved his hat-trick by always finding space inside the box and making it look easy.

The win will give City a confidence boost, but much bigger tests await in the coming weeks. For Salford they will return to their League Two promotion hunt knowing that the gap between themselves and City is a large one.

That’s full-time.

City were dominant from start to finish and deserve their win.

Grealish again carves open the defence before playing back to Gundogan whose effort is saved at close-range by goalkeeper Young

Aged just 16 Wright comes on for Salford at the Etihad. He replaces Adelakun

Salford break and the ball is played into the path of Taylor whose effort deflects off the body of Ederson and wide.

City carve their visitors open again with Grealish finding Gundogan inside the box. However, Tilt makes an excellent challenge to deny him.

A dream hat-trick for City youngster McAtee. City play the ball around the box before Grealish picks out McAtee midway inside the box to score down low.

Salford’s top goal scorer Stockton has a decent effort which flies low and just wide of the post. The visitors were close to a consolation goal then.

A rare reprieve from Salford as they venture forward and win a free-kick close to the byline. The set piece finds Tilt whose header is harmless.

An excellent performance by Doku who is replaced by Kovacic

City are now running riot. Again it’s Doku who this time cuts the ball back to Foden. His cross come shot is intercepted by McAtee who controls the ball and then scores.

Lund has been tested tonight and is replaced by McAleny.

Meanwhile, Kouassi is replaced by Stockton

Foden played the ball out to Doku before his cross hits the hand of Tilt in blocking the cross. Doku sends the goalkeeper the wrong direction.

Youngers McAtee and O’Reilly creating the chance with the ball eventually coming in for Foden who is challenged by Garbutt.

The subsequent corner drops for McAtee whose stinging effort was just over.

The visitors are continuing to try and impress. It is again Adelakun with a driving run before steering his effort well wide.

Quick passing by City sees Nunes sent a pin-point pass out wide for Doku. The winger finds the run of McAtee to slide home.