Manchester City may have spent more than £150million in January but sent a reminder that he is still Pep Guardiola's main man.
City's trip to League One side was one of the biggest mismatches of the round on paper. Orient had already come through three cup ties, two of them via penalty shoot-out victories, before welcoming the 2023 winners to Brisbane Road.
With 15 minutes on the clock, the home fans smelled a shock. Jamie Donley let fly from 40 yards and visiting keeper Stefan Ortega didn't see it coming. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced in off the back of the German, and Orient were in front.
They couldn't hold on to the lead, though, with City benefiting from a mix of luck and quality. Abdukodir Khusanov didn't know too much about his goal that brought the visitors level, but then De Bruyne's quality and determination completed the turnaround - with Orient's Dan Happe missing a golden chance to force extra-time right at the death.
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City named a much-changed side, but still had more than £100million worth of new signings in the starting XI. Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez were both handed debuts, while January arrival Omar Marmoush led the line with handed a rest.
It was Richie Wellens' underdogs who struck first, though, with Donley perhaps feeling his effort deserved the lucky bounce off Ortega. Things got worse for City when midway through the first half, but they brought themselves level in fortunate circumstances.
Rico Lewis fired in a hopeful effort and it flicked off the back of Abdukodir Khusanov - on as a half-time sub - to wrong-foot Orient keeper Josh Keeley. Orient didn't give up hope of finding a second, though, and top scorer Charlie Kelman went close after a free-kick from the left caused confusion, but the loanee couldn't find the target.
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CIty threw in the cavalry in the final 20 minutes, with De Bruyne and brought off the bench. Kelman continued to pose a threat, though, forcing a sharp save from Ortega as the clock ticked down.
Instead, though, it was Belgian playmaker De Bruyne who got the job done. He was more decisive than Keeley as played the ball through, and poked out a leg to deliver what proved to be the winner.
There was still time for a potential leveller as Happe got round the back to meet a final minute free-kick. The defender couldn't keep his effort down, though, and that was that.
Guardiola's team will have been delighted to get the job done in 90 minutes, with a big match-up with just three days away. Orient fell just short in the end, but they go out of the competition knowing they left everything out there on the pitch,
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