Man.City eye FA Cup success to save troubled season

Manchester City face Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-finals aiming to keep alive their last chance of silverware in a turbulent season.

- LONDON

City are the last of the Premier League’s big guns still standing as Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brighton headline the FA Cup’s year of the underdog.

In danger of enduring their first season without a major trophy since 2016-17, Manchester City will head to Bournemouth with some trepidation after losing at the Vitality Stadium earlier this term.

When Pep Guardiola’s men were beaten 2-0 by Bournemouth in the Premier League in November, it was the first time in their first season that City had lost to the Cherries.

The shock loss overshadowed City’s astonishing decline as they slipped out of their next 11 games in all competitions.

After six English titles in the past seven seasons, City -- languishing in fifth place in the Premier League -- have been reduced to battling to qualify for next season’s Champions League and avoiding their first campaign without silverware since Guardiola's maiden year at the Etihad Stadium.