The hosts made a dream start at the wet and windy Gaughan Group Stadium, taking the lead after 16 minutes as Jamie Donley’s 40 yard effort clipped the crossbar and bounced off Stefan Ortega Moreno into the net.
Pep Guardiola’s men searched for a leveller before the interval and came close through substitute Bernardo Silva, who replaced injured debutant Nico after just 22 minutes.
DIAS REACHES 200 CITY APPEARANCES
However, the Potuguese international’s dinked finish was cleared off the line by Donley, before Omar Marmoush saw his close-range strike saved well by goalkeeper Josh Keeley.
Shortly before the hour mark, we broke through the hosts’ resistance as a short corner made its way to Rico Lewis on the edge of the box, and his powerful strike deflected off Abdukodir Khusanov and into the net for the Uzbek’s first goal for the Club.
Minutes later, we almost took the lead as a loose ball in the box fell perfectly for James McAtee, but his improvised strike with the outside of his left foot shaved the outside of the right post from 12 yards, before Keeley was forced into another smart save by Ilkay Gundogan’s low effort.
LEYTON ORIENT 1-2 CITY: MATCH REPORT
De Bruyne was sent on after 72 minutes and seven minutes later, the Belgian latched onto Jack Grealish’s superb pass to flick beyond Keeley to complete the comeback and secure our passage into the fifth round of the competiton.
View the best images from the victory via our match gallery below.
