Jack Grealish made a difference for Manchester City against Leyton Orient | OneFootball

Manchester City had to battle their way past Leyton Orient to get a 2-1 win to progress in the FA Cup on Saturday. It was a tough win for Pep Guardiola’s side against the League One side. Across the full 90 minutes, there wasn’t a host of City players who stood out. Players such as Savinho and Abdukodir Khusanov put in impressive displays for half of the game. But there is an argument to be made that Jack Grealish was Manchester City’s best player over the course of the full 90 minutes.

Jack Grealish set up the winning goal in the second half for Kevin De Bruyne and did make an impact for his team. His second-half performance was better than his first. However, it has to be said that Grealish never stopped trying to impact the game for Pep Guardiola’s side. His assist for De Bruyne’s winner was a fair reward for the effort of the English international.

The challenge for Jack Grealish going forward is to have more of an impact on games. He did that against Leyton Orient. That is something Grealish must continue to do for the remainder of this season. If he can do that it may well see him become a more consistent contributor for Pep Guardiola’s side. At his best, he is a damaging winger. But we haven’t seen that from Grealish consistently this season. If he can step up across the second half of this season he could play a key role in Manchester City’s season.

No Manchester City player stood out against Leyton Orient. But Jack Grealish was arguably City’s best player over the full 90 minutes. He got his reward at the Gaughan Group Stadium when he set up Kevin De Bruyne’s late winner. Now the challenge is there for Grealish to do the same against a higher quality of opponent. With Manchester City set to take on a tough run of fixtures if Grealish can kick on it will help City tremendously as they face as season defining run of matches.