Why Erling Haaland is not playing in Manchester City’s FA Cup tie vs Leyton Orient

Erling Haaland was left out of Manchester City’s squad for their 2-1 win against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup on Saturday. Pep Guardiola’s side were made to sweat against their League One opponents as they went a goal down in the first half following Jamie Donley’s brilliant effort from 45 yards, which caught out Stefan Ortega. ‘I know I hit the goal well. I knew it fell for me nicely,’ Doneley said after the game. ‘I saw him off his line and luckily it went in. It will be a happy moment. It would have been a lot nicer if we won. It was disappointing we lost but it was a good moment.’.

City equalised in the 56th minute as Rico Lewis’ shot deflected off Abdukodir Khusanov before Kevin de Bruyne, who was brought on as a substitute in the second half, met Jack Grealish’s floated pass and finished from a narrow angle. Guardiola made eight changes from the side which lost 5-1 to Arsenal last weekend, with Stefan Ortega, Savinho and Omar Marmoush the only players to keep their place for the game against Leyton Orient.

De Bruyne, Phil Foden, John Stones and Bernardo Silva were all named on the substitutes’ bench, but Haaland did not travel with the squad as City confirmed that the striker has been given a rest day. New signing Nico Gonzalez, who joined City in a £50 million deal from Porto on the final day of the January transfer window, was handed his debut but was forced off with an injury after just 22 minutes.

The midfielder is now an early doubt for the first leg of City’s Champions League play-off tie against Real Madrid on Tuesday. Speaking after City’s comeback win, Lewis said: ‘He [Pep] wasn’t going mad or anything like that. He knew we’d created chances and it’s about keeping going in an environment like this. ‘Credit to Leyton Orient, they made it difficult for us to play. It’s easy to say it’s tougher than you think but we all know they’re tough. The crowd are right up for it.

‘It’s Man City at the end of the day, the demands are so high. There’s enough leadership in this team. Going from attack to defence is difficult, there’s a lot of ground to cover. It’s all about trust. ‘The season hasn’t panned out how we wanted it to. Every game now, as long as we win, it could be a great season for us. ‘Everyone does want us to get beat, apart from City fans of course. it’s pressure on our shoulders. Everyone settled their heads at half-time.’.

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