Manchester City vs Newcastle live updates: FA Cup team news, line ...

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Wow, what a breathless match. Wolves vs Coventry has just finished... and it was a cracker.

Coventry went 1-0 up via Ellis Simms, missed loads of chances, and looked like they were down and out when Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno scored in the 83rd and 88th minutes to put the Premier League side ahead.

But Simms equalised in the 97th minute before setting up American forward Haji Wright to score a dramatic winner in the 100th minute. Incredible scenes and that is exactly why we love the FA Cup. This City vs Newcastle game has a lot to live up to...

By the way, The Athletic's Greg O'Keeffe interviewed Wright last month - check it out below!

GO FURTHER

Haji Wright on his ‘crazy’ World Cup goal: ‘I was like, “OK, I’ll take it!”’

We're very glad you're with us.

Michael Bailey and I will be bringing you live coverage of this doubtless scintillating game later.

What more could you want?

An interesting story from Friday was Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley apologising to the club's former manager Steve Bruce after alleging he "didn't want to come to work".

She had said at the Bloomberg Power Players’ Summit in Jeddah last week: “There needed to be dramatic change because the club had been run in a very different format... we had a team that was aging, a fan base that was angry, and a coach who basically didn’t even want to come to work. We had to inject it with life.”

But later, on social media, she clarified: “This suggestion was not correct; Steve Bruce was fully committed to his role at the club and always came to work during this period. I would like to make clear that it was not my intention to question or undermine the professionalism of Steve... I offer an apology to Steve for my comments and any unintended consequences.”

Hmm.

As well as this live blog, we're running a football news blog right here covering the Premier League and FA Cup live scores and news.

Follow for the latest news from the Premier League, MLS, WSL, across Europe, and beyond.

It's being run by the brilliant Ali Rampling and Ben Burrows.

Manchester City only have one problem with Stefan Ortega: he is too good to be a No 2 goalkeeper.

In that sense, they should not fear Ederson’s injury absence at a key point in the season, with the Brazilian doubtful for the game against Arsenal at the end of March.

It does mean that Ortega could leave the club this summer in pursuit of more regular football, though. City offered a new contract at the end of 2023 but so far there has been no agreement.

Indeed, Pep Guardiola was so impressed with the 31-year-old last season that he had been considering, towards the end of the campaign, using him as first-choice goalkeeper for the current season. Read more below...

GO FURTHER

Ederson injured but Stefan Ortega is ready for Man City’s Premier League title push

We want to hear from you.

Whether it's pre-match predictions, your thoughts on a combined XI or any questions you have for us, you can email The Athletic at: [email protected] and we'll do our best to get back to you.

We'll also endeavour to include some of the best bits in our live blog.

So get typing!

In case you missed it, the Champions League draw happened yesterday, pitting Manchester City against Real Madrid and reminding Newcastle what could have been after their disappointing group-stage exit.

The Athletic assembled an expert panel to cast their eyes over the four ties to predict where they will be decided, who they are tipping to go through and which team they are expecting to lift the trophy at Wembley on June 1.

Check out their analysis below.

GO FURTHER

Champions League quarter-final draw: Predictions, tactics and players to watch

Great question.

Though the FA Cup has caused several matches to be postponed, there are still four league matches happening today and tomorrow. Today's are:

And on Sunday:

We'll bring you updates from the above games in this live blog, and from Sunday's game in our Manchester United vs Liverpool live blog. See you there!

It's half-time in the early kick-off in the FA Cup.

Goalless between Wolves and Coventry.

We'll bring you sporadic updates from that one throughout this afternoon.

Everyone is excited about the FA Cup quarter final at the Etihad, nobody more than Chris Waugh it seems, on the latest episode of The Athletic's Newcastle podcast Pod On The Tyne.

Is there any scope for optimism going into this one with our terrible record at City? George Caulkin thinks so, and he mounts a strong defence of Newcastle's local lads who have been playing through the pain in a difficult season.

Whether this is the end of the road for Eddie Howe's squad in its current form is another matter, with the manager suggesting radical changes in personnel will be difficult to achieve this summer.

Listen in via your preferred podcast platform here!

It is hard to say which is most indicative of Phil Foden’s emergence as one of Manchester City’s key men: the way that Pep Guardiola now speaks about him or that he has finally got his own song.

To the tune of Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen, the City fans sing…

“Can’t start a fire,

“Can’t start a fire without a spark,

“Phil Foden’s on fire,

“Running through the middle and the park.”

Kevin De Bruyne still has a lot to offer but Foden’s development has come at a good time and he is suddenly becoming the player that everybody, Guardiola included, hoped and believed he could be.

GO FURTHER

Phil Foden is fast becoming Manchester City’s key man in the middle

Kicking off at 12.15pm GMT (very recently) was Wolves vs Coventry.

Coventry are one of two Championship sides to reach the last eight, along with Leicester.

Tomorrow, the two other quarter-finals take place:

The Athletic will also be covering Manchester United vs Liverpool tomorrow. See you there!

Alongside this live blog, you can tune into the action via the below channels.

UK: BBC One.

US: ESPN+.

Canada: Sportsnet.

Australia: Paramount+.

The Etihad Stadium. Often disparagingly nicknamed 'The Empty-had'.

Capacity: 53,400.

Here's hoping it will be close to that tonight to create a fine atmosphere.

And on the agenda today, Manchester City vs Newcastle.

The winners of this tie will have a great chance of lifting the trophy on May 25.

Let's get into it!