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Manchester City powered into the fourth round of the FA Cup after delivering an embarrassing 4-0 beating to Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.
The sides met in the Premier League too just days ago, with Man City coming away from Stamford Bridge with a 1-0 win.
This one was far from tight, though, with Chelsea completely dominating from the off in a performance that will crank up the pressure on boss Graham Potter.
The only real surprise was that it took Man City 24 minutes to break the deadlock. When they did, though, it was worth the wait.
Riyad Mahrez placed a sumptuous free-kick right in the top corner from 30 yards, and from then on it only looked like a question of how many goals City might score.
Just six minutes later they doubled that advantage, as VAR awarded a penalty for a Kai Havertz handball the on-field officials had missed. World Cup winner Julian Alvarez took responsibility and found the bottom corner.
Chelsea might have been thinking at that point that things could only get better, but they almost immediately got worse. The effort levels appeared to drop, allowing City to pass around and through them to add a stylish third courtesy of Phil Foden.
The second half then felt more like a training exercise than anything else. Man City knew they had already won it and Chelsea appeared only too happy to accept it.
There were few chances, but City were just keeping Chelsea at arm’s length really. Even then they were able to add a fourth when Phil Foden was fouled in the box and a second penalty was awarded.
This time it was Mahrez who stepped up and scored emphatically to complete the rout.
Man City will now face Oxford United of Arsenal at home in the fourth round.
GK: Stefan Ortega – 6/10 – Rarely needed but solid enough when he was.
RB: Kyle Walker – 6/10 – Played most of the game in second gear, but that is all that was required.
CB: Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – Another decent performance.
CB: Aymeric Laporte – 6/10 – Very comfortable, but rarely tested.
LB: Sergio Gomez – 6/10 – Played his part before being taken off around the hour mark.
DM: Rodri – 6/10 – Would have been expecting a much tougher test after the game at Stamford Bridge.
CM: Bernardo Silva – 6/10 – Customarily immaculate in possession.
CM: Phil Foden – 7/10 – Scored a fine goal and won a penalty. Certainly made his presence felt.
RF: Riyad Mahrez – 8/10 – The best player on the pitch. Great free-kick and a confidence-boosting penalty.
CF: Julian Alvarez – 6/10 – Tucked the penalty home nicely despite Kepa nonsense.
LF: Cole Palmer – 6/10 – Some good, some bad, but an encouraging performance.
Substitutes
SUB: Kalvin Phillips (58′ for Rodri) –
SUB: Joao Cancelo (58′ for Sergio)
SUB: Rico Lewis (86′ for Bernardo)
Manager
Pep Guardiola – 6/10 – Put out a team able to win the match and got City into the next round, Can’t really ask much more than that, even if the opposition was awful.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 4/10 – Didn’t really do anything wrong, but marked down for the ‘pound shop Emi Martinez’ antics on the penalty.
RB: Trevoh Chalobah – 4/10 – Tough afternoon for the youngster, but players will greater experience were far more culpable.
CB: Bashir Humphreys – 4/10 – Talk about a baptism of fire. Not offered any protection on the day.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly – 2/10 – Chelsea needed him to step up as the leader at the back, and he didn’t deliver.
LB: Lewis Hall – 3/10 – Not nearly cavalier or dynamic enough, although he rarely had many options when on the ball.
CM Jorginho – 4/10 – Largely ineffectual
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 3/10 – A very long way short of his best.
AM: Conor Gallagher – 1/10 – Given another big opportunity and wasn’t able to take it. Made things worse for his Chelsea prospects, if anything. Wasn’t helped by a second-half switch to right wingback, must be said.
RF: Hakim Ziyech – 5/10 – One of the few Chelsea players to at least try to offer something.
CF: Kai Havertz – 2/10 – Only real contribution was to give away a penalty.
LF Mason Mount – 3/10 – Looked completely lost.
Substitutes
SUB: Denis Zakaria (46′ for Kovacic)
SUB: David Datro Fofana (46′ for Havertz)
SUB: César Azpilicueta (63′ for Jorginho)
SUB: Omari Hutchinson (63′ for Ziyech)
SUB: Carney Chukwuemeka (73′ for Mount)
Manager
Graham Potter – 3/10 – The buck always stops with the manager, but he will feel very let down by his players and justifiably so.
Player of the match: Riyad Mahrez
Listen now as Scott Sinclair hosts Graeme Bailey and Toby Cudworth in the latest episode of Talking Transfers. This week they discuss Man Utd’s interest in Mohammed Kudus, Enzo Fernandez and Chelsea, Jude Bellingham’s decision and Mykhaylo Mudryk’s preferred move. Available on all audio platforms.
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