Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City: Semenyo nets debut goal in FA Cup rout

Antoine Semenyo got a goal and an assist as Manchester City ruthlessly brushed aside League One Exeter City 10-1 in the FA Cup third round.

After Liam Oakes gave the hosts an early scare, Max Alleyne broke the deadlock in the 12th minute, pouncing on Jack Fitzwater’s poor block to turn it home.

Rodri then doubled their lead 12 minutes later with a stunning 25-yard effort, before a dismal five-minute period before the break for Exeter ultimately settled the game.

Fitzwater nodded a Rayan Cherki corner against an unfortunate Jack Doyle-Hayes and in, before getting an own goal to his name by deflecting Tijjani Reijnders’ pullback past Joe Whitworth.

Semenyo, following his reported £65m move from Bournemouth, came to the fore after the break, whipping in a lovely cross for Rico Lewis to tap home before coolly slotting Man City’s sixth into the bottom-right corner 54 minutes in.

Reijnders bent a stunning strike from the edge of the box past Whitworth 71 minutes in, while Nico O’Reilly glanced a looping header over the goalkeeper 11 minutes from time.

Another debutant in Ryan McAidoo, got their ninth, with a venomous low drive from the edge of the box, before substitute George Birch got Exeter a stunning consolation by picking out the top-left corner from range in the 90th minute.

But Pep Guardiola’s side had the final say as Lewis volleyed in from the right of the box in the first minute of stoppage time to finish off a thrilling match.

It ends 10-1 to City!

@okx pic.twitter.com/1tROdFPnYF

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 10, 2026

Data Debrief: Exeter dismantled by clinical Man City

Despite a 10-1 win, Guardiola – watching on from the stands – did not look overly impressed by his team’s performance, but they showed total dominance.

They are the first English top-flight side to score 10+ goals in the FA Cup since Tottenham beat Crewe Alexandra 13-2 in February 1960.

But it was all about Semenyo, who is the first Man City player to both score and assist a goal on his debut in all competitions since Sergio Aguero against Swansea City in August 2011.

Exeter gave it a good go when they had the chance to go forward, registering seven shots worth 0.62 expected goals (xG), but Man City well overperformed their 2.17 xG from 21 shots, scoring with all 10 of their attempts on target.