Manchester City eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup thanks to a Bernardo Silva-inspired 3-0 win at home to Birmingham City on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola made the somewhat surprising decision to name what was essentially his strongest possible XI, and their superior quality was telling from the start as they quickly raced into a 2-0 lead.
Silva opened the scoring with a gorgeous volley and swiftly doubled City's advantage to cap off a fine move in the 15th minute, before Phil Foden effectively killed off any hopes of a Birmingham comeback before the interval.
City were less deadly in the second period as they failed to add to their lead, but it mattered little as they had no difficulty seeing out a comfortable victory.
Aitor Karanka and Birmingham will have been braced for a difficult day after seeing the line-up chosen by Guardiola, though nothing could have prepared them for the hosts' start.
Silva displayed remarkable technique to make it 1-0 as he unleashed a stunning volley just inside the box to punish a poor clearance, picking out the top-left corner.
He soon got a second with a simple close-range finish, guiding home Kevin De Bruyne's cutback after the Belgian had been well spotted by Riyad Mahrez.
City found their stride again after something of a lull, and Foden increased the lead just past the half-hour mark, rifling into the bottom-right corner from 20 yards after being picked out by Mahrez.
The hosts withdrew De Bruyne, Joao Cancelo and Ruben Dias at half-time, with youngsters Felix Nmecha and Taylor Harwood-Bellis entering alongside John Stones.
City remained dominant and thought they had a fourth goal just past the hour, only for VAR to confirm Mahrez had strayed offside when latching on to Foden's pass.
Silva passed up the chance to complete his hat-trick as he dragged wide when the ball fell kindly for him, and that proved to be his final opportunity as City settled for a three-goal victory.
What does it mean? City emphatic but Guardiola learns little
It is fair to say, Guardiola may have surprised a few by naming such a strong starting XI and it seemingly yielded the desired result as City went into half-time 3-0 to the good.
Nevertheless, Guardiola will have learnt very little about that first-half performance given his line-up was full of first-team regulars and they were facing a side struggling in a Championship relegation battle.
A few of the kids were sent on in the second half and did their chances of further opportunities no harm, though the game had become little more than a training exercise by that point.
Foden runs Birmingham ragged
There were several City stars who produced classy displays, but Foden was arguably the most enjoyable to watch. His goal was a great strike, while he had already threatened beforehand with his other two shots. The England international also made three key passes – one of those was particularly clever, as he chested down a long ball to tee up Silva for an effort that hit the side-netting.
Gabriel Jesus frustrated
City's Brazilian striker was by no means poor here – with three shots and a couple of key passes, he was actually quite bright. But he will likely be frustrated by the fact he could not get his name on the scoreboard, particularly given one of his first-half opportunities was a one-one-one situation that he spurned.
What's next?
It is back to Premier League action on Wednesday for City, who host Brighton and Hove Albion. Birmingham continue their quest to get clear of the Championship's relegation zone three days later when they go to coach Karanka's former team Middlesbrough.
Maggotty maul Roger Clarke 8-0, as STETHS, Munro play out 1-1 stalemate in Zone E double-header
While former champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Munro College played out a 1-1 stalemate, Maggotty High helped themselves to an 8-0 win over Roger Clarke in a ISSA/Wata daCosta Cup Zone E double-header in Santa Cruz on Saturday.
Ozwayne Miller (20th, 28th) and Roshane Lewis (60th, 64th), both had a brace for Maggotty, with Robinho Barrett (17th), Jeraine Robinson (51st), Chadrick Jackson (66th) and Daniel Martin (75th), also getting in on the act, as Roger Clarke were like lambs to the slaughter in the curtain-raiser.
The much-anticipated St Elizabeth derby feature contest, though not short on entertainment, did not serve up as much goals as D’andre Hibbert (35th) of STETHS and Munro’s captain Daniel Bowen (37th), ensured their teams a share of the spoils.
Despite the draw, STETHS remain at the summit of the zone on 10 points, one ahead of BB Coke (nine points), with Munro College inching up to eight points in third. Maggotty with their first win of the season, moved up to fifth on four points.
It was one-way traffic in favour of Maggotty High in the opening encounter which was reduced to 80 minutes following a lengthy delay caused by lightning.
Barrett opened the scoring with a neat finish, beating Raquan Powell in goal for Roger Clarke, at his near post.
Poor defending by Roger Clarke then allowed Miller to double the lead, as he latched on to, and tucked away a rebound.
Miller was again on target eight minutes later when he got in behind defenders and calmly slotted a left-footed effort beyond Powell, for his second on the day and third of the season.
Though up 3-0 at the break, Maggotty High were in no mood to let up and extended their lead six minutes into the resumption when Powell left his lines but failed to clear the ball properly. Robinson, who was on hand, capitalised as he fired the loose ball into an empty net.
On the hour-mark, Lewis went on the break down the right channel where he had time and space to dart into the 18-yard box and pick a spot to fire past the hapless Powell.
Lewis then grabbed his second and his team’s sixth, as he outpaced and outmuscled a defender before firing past the slightly advanced Powell in the 64th.
Jackson added his name to the scoresheet two minutes later. He picked up a pass from Lewis inside the 18-yard box and finished with aplomb.
And Martin applied the finishing touches to the rout when her converted from the penalty spot after Donte Blake, handled ball inside the danger area.
The feature contest lived up to billing for the most parts, as both STETHS and Munro were evenly poised throughout and nullified each other at both ends of the park.
It was STETHS that drew first blood when Hibbert applied a thumping right-footed finish to a pass from Ajay Smith. That was his fourth of the season.
However, their celebrations were short-lived as Munro replied soon after Roshane Wint headed on a ball for Bowen, who executed a sublime acrobatic finish on the volley, that gave Donte Campbell, in goal for STETHS, no chance at a save.
From there, both teams created their fair share of chances, particularly in the second half, but were unable to make them count.
Saturday’s results
Merlene Ottey 0, Green Island 1
Rusea’s High 1, Frome Tech 0
Discovery Bay High 0, York Castle 10
William Knibb Memorial 3, Cedric Titus 0
Aabuthnott Gallimore 2, Ferncourt High 5
Knockalva Technical 3, Black River High 1
Mannings School 3, Grange Hill High 0
Newell High 1, Lacovia High 3
Maggotty High 8, Roger Clarke 0
STETHS 1, Munro College 1
Manchester High 6, Mt St Joseph Catholic 0
deCarteret College 8, Cross Keys 0
Central High 16, Porus High 0
Vere Tech 2, Foga Road 1
Kemps Hill 1, Garvey Maceo High 1
May Day High vs Belair High (called off due to waterlogged field)
Lennon High vs Edwin Allen (called off due to lightning)
Clarendon College vs Thompson Town (called off due to lightning)
Carron Hall High vs St Mary High (rained out)
Wycliffe Martin High vs Horace Clarke (rained out)
Ocho Rios High vs Brown’s Town (rained out)
Hydel remain unbeaten; KC put 14 past Penwood in Group A Manning Cup action
Hydel High, Kingston College and Calabar High are all equal on nine points after action in Group A of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup on Saturday.
Hydel defeated former champions Charlie Smith 1-0 to secure their third win in as many games. They are currently leading the group on goal difference having scored 15 goals and not conceded any.
Kingston College, who opened their campaign with a 0-4 loss to Hydel, hammered Penwood 14-0 to get their third win in a row in second while Calabar handed Camperdown their third consecutive defeat with a 5-2 score-line.
Elsewhere, Mona High got their fourth win in as many games in Group E with a 2-1 win over St. Catherine High.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hails ‘massively important’ Jonny Evans
Erik ten Hag praised “massively important” Jonny Evans after the defender was drafted into the starting line-up and helped Manchester United to a 1-0 victory against Burnley.
The 35-year-old made his first start for the club since 2015 and, as well as helping secure a much-needed clean sheet, set up Bruno Fernandes for the only goal after having an earlier header ruled out.
Evans re-signed for the club earlier this month following his release by Leicester, and boss Ten Hag said: “We have problems and in this moment a lot is against us: injuries, decisions and we have all seen the examples.
“We are very happy to have a player like Jonny Evans in the squad. He comes in and he is calm, composed, he has character and a good skill-set. Even when you have things against you, you can bounce back and then you have the character in the team to do that.
“In the summer, I heard he was in to train with the under-23s, I said ‘Fletch (technical director Darren Fletcher), come bring him in with the first team. Maybe he can help us’.
“I already saw in pre-season with the schedule, the problems with the numbers in the squad. We decided to sign him because I think he can really contribute to the squad and today you have seen how massively important he can be.”
Fernandes’ first-time volley from Evans’ ball over the top was a moment of real quality in a game where Ten Hag knew United could not afford another slip-up after three losses in a row.
“This was a must-win and we knew that,” said the Dutchman, who had no complaints about the disallowed goal with Rasmus Hojland deemed to be offside and interfering in front of goalkeeper James Trafford.
“The team responded on the pitch. You could see the togetherness in the dressing room. It was a squad performance.”
Burnley are still looking for their first win following promotion back to the Premier League and have picked up only one point from their first five games.
But manager Vincent Kompany was pleased with the performance of his side, who hit the post in the first half through Zeki Amdouni and had several other good opportunities.
“We had two or three massive chances, really big,” said the Clarets’ boss. “The one from Jay Rod (Rodriguez) where he is controlling the ball in front of the keeper and then slices it, the one from (Jacob) Bruun Larsen, one-on-one with the keeper, just takes his touch a little bit too far.
“Then obviously the one from Zeki Amdouni that hits the post and rolls out. I don’t think you get many more big chances against a team like United. We have to take the positives from it and learn from the things we could do better.
“I am a rational mind, I thought 14 new players, and you see City, United, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham all within the first 10 games and you know this might be a difficult start but, if I look at the performance today, our moment will come.”
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