Manchester City made light work of what could have been a tricky tie at Cardiff to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup courtesy of a 2-0 win on Sunday. Two goals up at the break, they took their foot off the gas and cruised through a non-event of a second half and put in an excellent, professional display. The same couldn't be said of the officials, who had an afternoon to forget.

Positives

City made it through to the next round of the cup with very little energy spent. They were able to get the job done early and then keep their opposition at arm's length for the remainder of the game. It could have been a tough match, but Pep Guardiola's side made it look simple. They also didn't let the poor calls affect them -- Bernardo Silva's disallowed goal should have stood and Joe Bennett should have walked for a horror challenge on Leroy Sane.

Negatives

There were some industrial challenges flying in from the home side and City fans will wait with bated breath to see what effect they've had. Sane couldn't finish the game after being fouled, while Raheem Sterling, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne were kicked throughout.

Manager rating out of 10

9 -- Having named a strong team, Guardiola made his intentions to the tie clear and his side repaid his faith in them.

Player ratings (1-10; 10=best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Claudio Bravo, 7 -- After a horrible first season at the club, he's shown himself to be a useful option as back-up to Ederson. He almost threw a long-range shot into his own net, but recovered well to scamper on it before it crossed the line. His footwork was good and made a few comfortable saves towards the end.

DF Kyle Walker, 8 -- Does the full-back ever get tired? He motored up and down the right flank to offer City width throughout the game and he was alert to cover when Cardiff tried to break.

DF Vincent Kompany, 8 -- A welcome return from injury for the captain, he spent the majority of the second half passing it between Bravo and Nicolas Otamendi. He was solid and assured throughout.

DF Nicolas Otamendi, 8 -- As with his centre-back partner, there was very little for the defender to worry about. He dived in needlessly towards the end, but with the number of covering players it didn't matter that he missed the ball and the man, though he may have felt a little sheepish for a moment afterwards.

DF Danilo, 8 -- Often criticised, the defender was beaten early on for pace but recovered to put in a solid performance. His brilliant quick free kick almost saw Sterling add City's third, and, later, he carried on a run to latch on to a one-on-one and could have made it 3-0 himself.

MF Fernandinho, 8 -- It was another firefighting display from the midfielder, which left Cardiff with few options and no grip of the midfield. Whenever there was a sign of trouble, he was there to snuff it out -- and he kept City driving forward in the first half.

MF Ilkay Gundogan, 8 -- There was concern when the German was brought crashing down on the edge of the box, but he wasn't seriously hurt and used it to inspire a great display. A goal would have crowned off his performance, but his driving runs through the middle caused Cardiff no end of problems.

MF Bernardo Silva, 9 -- Quite how the creative midfielder left the pitch without a goal is a mystery. He was everywhere and looking totally settled in this City team. He had a perfectly good thumping strike ruled out by a poor offside call, but dusted himself down to provide a great assist for Raheem Sterling.

MF Kevin De Bruyne, 9 -- A sublime and cheeky free kick underneath the Cardiff man wall will take the headlines, but make no mistake -- that was just one facet of a brilliant display. His vision and passing were crowned off by an outrageous through ball to beat the entire team to send Sterling clean through.

MF Leroy Sane, 8 -- With acres of space to work in, the winger caused the home side all kinds of problems until his afternoon was cut short at half time after a horrible challenge from Bennett, who should have been red carded. Until then, he was gliding around the pitch like he owned the place.

MF Raheem Sterling, 8 -- Not the first name you'd associate with headed goals, Sterling doubled City's lead with a lovely finish. He worked his socks off for 90 minutes and could have had more goals to his name were it not for some good tackles or with a better finish.

Substitutes

FW Sergio Aguero, 7 -- On for Sane at half time, the striker looked desperate to score, but he just couldn't find himself in a good shooting position. That wasn't helped by his teammates easing up after the break.

MF Brahim Diaz, N/R -- The youngster ran about for a bit in a game that was already won when he came on for Silva on 89 minutes. He drew the foul that eventually saw Bennett sent off.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by DAVID MOONEY

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