Manchester City produced a brutal FA Cup statement this afternoon, crushing Exeter City 10–1 at the Etihad in a one-sided third-round tie that became a procession long before the final whistle. With Pep Guardiola serving a touchline ban and watching from the stands, City played with the edge of a team eager to reset their mood after a stuttering run, and they did it in the most ruthless way possible—double figures, debut goals, and wave after wave of attacks that Exeter simply couldn’t live with.
To Exeter’s credit, they didn’t arrive to park the bus. They started brightly and even fashioned the first meaningful moment of the game when Liam Oakes rose to meet a corner, forcing James Trafford into a sharp save that briefly lifted the away end. But once City settled, the gap in speed and precision quickly showed. The opening goal came on 12 minutes, and it was an unusual scorer: 20-year-old Max Alleyne, thrown into the XI, reacted quickest inside the six-yard area to prod in after chaos in the box and the ball sneaked in off the post. Exeter tried to respond with direct running and quick counters, but City’s pressure built relentlessly and the second goal was a hammer blow—Rodri stepping onto a loose ball from distance and drilling an unstoppable strike beyond the goalkeeper to make it 2–0.
From there, it turned into an exercise in survival for the visitors. Haaland went close as City’s passing triangles pulled Exeter apart, and the third goal arrived just before the interval in unfortunate fashion, Exeter defender Jack Fitzwater seeing a dangerous ball deflect in off him for an own goal. The fourth followed almost immediately, another cruel moment as captain Jake Doyle-Hayes got the wrong touch under pressure and diverted the ball into his own net. At 4–0 down at half-time, the tie was effectively over, but City did not ease off.
The second half began exactly as the first ended. Rico Lewis made it five soon after the restart with a close-range finish as Exeter struggled to clear their lines, and then the Etihad got its first look at City’s new winger in full flow. Antoine Semenyo—making his debut—was slipped through and calmly slotted home to make it 6–0, a composed finish that drew a huge reaction in the stands. City kept rotating, but the intensity stayed high. Tijjani Reijnders curled in number seven, Nico O’Reilly headed in number eight, and teenage winger Ryan McAidoo—another debutant—added the ninth as City’s movement continued to overwhelm a tiring Exeter back line.
Exeter finally had a moment to savour late on when 19-year-old substitute George Birch struck a magnificent consolation from range, a fierce effort into the top corner that sparked genuine celebration among the travelling supporters who had stayed with their team through a punishing afternoon. Even that couldn’t stop City adding a tenth: Lewis struck again in added time to complete his brace and round off a scoreline that will live long in both clubs’ histories for very different reasons.
After the match, City assistant Pep Lijnders praised the team’s hunger and the way they approached the tie with focus rather than entitlement, highlighting the leadership of the senior players and the energy provided by the younger ones. He also singled out Semenyo’s impact, describing him as a player who offers pace, relentless work and an ability to adapt quickly, and said the group is determined to keep pushing for finals as the season reaches its defining stretch. Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was candid in his assessment, admitting his side conceded “poor” goals and that you cannot give a team of City’s quality that kind of help, but he also pointed to Exeter’s positive opening spell, the moments they created early on, and the character of their travelling support—who stayed and applauded at the end despite what he called a humbling experience.
For City, it was a day of confidence, momentum and goals from everywhere on the pitch; for Exeter, it was a harsh lesson against elite opposition, softened only by a brilliant late strike and the pride of a big away day shared with thousands of supporters.
