Pep Guardiola insists Leyton Orient win saved him from Manchester City sacking | OneFootball

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was unlikely to sack Pep Guardiola after the club’s FA Cup fourth round win over Leyton Orient, the manager has said.

The Premier League champions were forced into a mammoth challenge at the hands of the League One side on Saturday afternoon with Jamie Donley’s first-half effort and subsequent Stefan Ortega Moreno own goal leaving City with a one-goal deficit to overcome at the break.

Manchester City’s quality and composure in high-pressure moments would ultimately show once again as Rico Lewis’ long-range effort cannoned home off the back of Abdukodir Khusanov, before Kevin De Bruyne would book a place in the fifth round with his winner.

Victory in East London now means that Manchester City will welcome Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle to the Etihad Stadium in round five after their historic home win over European high-flyers Liverpool.

Speaking to reporters after the game at Brisbane Road, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insisted that while the atmosphere at Leyton Orient was ‘fantastic’, his ability to ‘enjoy’ the experience was ultimately dampened by chants over his future.

“When they say, ‘You are going to be sacked in the morning’, (I enjoy it) not much! But it’s a routine in all the stadiums right now. With this result, I think my chairman is not going to sack me tomorrow (Sunday), that’s for sure,” said Guardiola.

Discussing the enthralling atmosphere at the East London club’s stadium at the weekend, the Manchester City manager continued, “I don’t know if League One every game the vibe is like this, but it’s really good!

“You come to the locker room, so tight, players talk more than big locker rooms. But I say all the time, we came from here! We didn’t, at 16, 17, 18, 19 years-old, go to Wembley.

“We were born in this places, these locker rooms and I like especially when you play in lower divisions the way the team behaved, because if you don’t behave properly, how many surprises have there been in the FA Cup through the long history of the competition?!

“Except Wigan, the rest we were there and played good games in difficult circumstances, environments. Now our position is a little unstable emotionally, still have a lot of injuries and that’s why to go through makes me so proud, so happy.”

Unfortunately for Manchester City, their joys in the capital were short-lived into a new week as Real Madrid came from behind in the closing exchanges of Tuesday night’s Champions League last-16 play-off first-leg to bring a 3-2 lead back to the Spanish capital next week.