Stoke City's Michael Kightly, left, and Manchester City's Carlos Tevez battle for the ball during their English FA Cup fourth round soccer match at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke on Trent, England, Saturday Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Clint Hughes)
January 26, 2013 - 8:37 AM
LONDON - Pablo Zabaleta's late goal sent Manchester City through to the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Stoke on Saturday.
The Argentina defender neatly stabbed the ball into the net in the 85th minute after Edin Dzeko clipped the ball across from Sergio Aguero's pass.
"We won it two years ago and know how important the competition is — we want to win it again," Zabaleta said. "It's always great to score and three goals this season is not bad for a fullback.
"It was a massive win on a very tough pitch. It's always difficult here but today we were fantastic, very solid on the park and aggressive."
But there was a setback for City with Vincent Kompany limping off with a calf injury in the first half, and the captain will miss the Premier League match against Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday.
Among Saturday's other fourth-round matches, Manchester United hosts Fulham and Arsenal is at second-tier club Brighton.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013