A SPECIAL night for Oleksandr ZInchenko ended in a victory that was also far from routine.
Zinchenko, playing his first game since his Ukrainian homeland was invaded by Russia, was City’s captain for the night.
He and Peterborough skipper Frankie Kent were carrying the blue and yellow flag as they led out their teams.
But otherwise there was little room for sentiment on a challenging night for the left back and the Premier League leaders.
Until Riyad Mahrez broke the deadlock on the hour, City had not had a shot on target and their dogged opponents had missed the best chance through Sammie Szmodics.
As Pep Guardiola was telling Jack Grealish before the game, statistics can be meaningless and his team struggled to make their possession and technical superiority count on the heavy London Road surface
But Grealish will feel better about himself after grabbing the second goal.
Even then, Posh substitute Jack Marriott stung the hands of Ederson in a match that was far less comfortable for Guardiola’s side than many had anticipated.
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City’s run of favourable draws in domestic cup competitions has not gone unnoticed.
One mischievous bookmaker said the big question before the balls came out of the hat for the fifth round was whether Guardiola’s side would get Peterborough at home or away.
It was arguably a better game for City even than facing National League Boreham Wood.
Things had only got worse for the Posh since the draw.
They went into the game bottom of the Championship, despite Derby’s 21-point deduction, with no wins and only one goal in the six matches since the fourth round win over QPR.
After manager Darren Ferguson had left the club by mutual consent, new boss Grant McCann started with a morale-sapping 3-0 home defeat by Hull three days before the cup tie.
But the Fenland faithful were in good voice for a game under the Tuesday Night Lights against the champions of England, a glamorous break from a grim grind of a relegation battle.
Their initial welcome for Zinchenko and his team on a crisp evening was far from warm.
City ran out for their warm-up to a chorus of boos and another quick rendition of “You’re just a s**t Man United”.
But when the Ukrainian’s name was read out, with a handful of blue and yellow flags on display in the away end, all four sides of the ground rang with applause.
That was where the solidarity ended, though. When Zinchenko had the game’s first two shots, with his less-favoured right foot, and sent them high and wide, the ironic cheers were just as you would have expected in normal circumstances.
It was the Posh who forced the first save of the night, in the 10th minute.
The angle was against Jeando Fuchs, but Ederson was taking no chances with the deflected effort. “We’ve had a shot,” sang the home fans.
City were not at the races. Zinchenko gave the ball away to allow one Posh break, then Nathan Ake stopped another with a cynical block on Ricky-Jade Jones that earned him a yellow card.
The away side were pushing and probing, yet could not fashion a clear shot on goal against a Peterborough side that held a steady 5-4-1 formation out of possession.
The three centre-halves were always on hand to snuff out danger, as when captain Kent cut out a Mahrez cross after the Algerian had slipped past Hayden Coulson.
City were becoming a little frustrated. Fernandinho showed his impatience by cleaning out home goalkeeper Steven Benda as the German caught a corner.
And just to underline how nothing was going for the visitors, referee Andy Madley called Joao Cancelo for a foul throw.
Gundogan headed a Mahrez cross wide, Jesus fluffed an acrobatic effort and Guardiola’s men went into the break well ahead on possession (77 per cent) but behind one-nil on shots on target.
Guardiola’s response was to change…his centre-backs.
Ours is not to question genius, but within minutes the ball fell to Szmodics, only for the Boro wideman to miscue badly as the ball held up in the mud.
Kwame Poku had a shot towards goal but it was far too soft to trouble Ederson.
City finally made the breakthrough when Mahrez made the most of a bit of space and curled a shot through a crowd of players and inside the far post.
City’s right winger should have doubled the lead moments later, but fired over after being played in by Grealish.
The £100m man showed more composure when he controlled Foden’s superb crossfield pass and rolled the ball under Benda.
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There was still life in the game, and Marriott could have pulled one back if he had directed his shot either side of Ederson.
Benda made a good stop from the ever-lively Foden. Only he and Mahrez could claim to have lived up to their billing.
But for City and Zinchenko, it was only playing the game and winning that mattered. That much, at least, remained within their power, despite Peterborough’s best efforts.
Even a comedically bad miss by Aymeric Laporte in the final minute was of no concern for the visitors.
