Pep Guardiola will select Oleksandr Zinchenko for Manchester City’s FA Cup tie at Peterborough, believing it will be “good” for the Ukrainian left-back as he continues to deal with his country being invaded by Russia.
Zinchenko was an unused substitute for the 1-0 win at Everton on Saturday, City’s first game since the invasion. The 25-year-old defender, who has voiced dismay at Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin, will start the fifth-round game at London Road.
“[He will be] absolutely fine, I think it will be good for him to play and show the reason why he is here,” Guardiola said. “He is a magnificent player [and] needs to play football.”
On the basis that Zinchenko does feature against Peterborough, he will be the first Premier League-based Ukrainian to do so since the invasion. Everton’s Vitalii Mykolenko was also an unused substitute at Goodison Park on Saturday while West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko has been granted compassionate leave by the club.
City extended their lead over Liverpool at the top of the Premier League to six points with their win against Everton. but the triumph was a controversial one given the penalty that was not awarded to the hosts following Rodri’s clear control of the ball with his arm shortly after Phil Foden had scored for the visitors. Neither the referee, Paul Tierney, nor the VAR, Chris Kavanagh, deemed Rodri’s action a handball, which outraged the majority of those in attendance, as well as most watching from afar. Everton have reportedly lodged a formal complaint to the Premier League over not just Rodri’s handball but other decisions in recent matches involving the club.
Asked if a single incident, such as Rodri’s handball, has the power to determine the destiny of the title race, Guardiola said: “For sure – I will review a lot of incidents [then]. What I would say about this is if it is not offside it is a penalty.
“It’s one game. If we lose the next one the momentum is over. It was a good example [versus Everton] of what we will face in the next 11 games and shows we are able to face it.”
Zack Steffen, City’s regular cup goalkeeper, is injured for the game against Peterborough. So Guardiola will choose between the regular No 1 Ederson and the 36-year-old Scott Carson, who has one appearance for the club in three years.
