Manchester City booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals after a routine 3-0 win over Bristol City on Tuesday.
Phil Foden gave Pep Guardiola's side the lead inside the opening quarter of an hour as he finished off well-worked team move. Although Nigel Pearson's side created chances and gave the Premier League side a stern test, their hard work was undone when Foden added his second to all but kill the tie with a deflected finish.
Moments later, Kevin de Bruyne added a third with a superb long-range strike to cap off the win for City as they cruised through to the last-eight alongside Brighton, Blackburn and Fulham, who also progressed on the night. Here are five talking points from Ashton Gate...
Foden makes Guardiola statement
Having struggled for form since the World Cup, Foden was back to his best in the win over Bournemouth on Saturday and followed that up with another impressive performance against the Robins. He opened the scoring with a neat close-range finish in the seventh minute following Riyad Mahrez's cross.
And the England ace continued to be a handful on the left-hand side and he created a glorious chance for Alvarez to double City's lead on the quarter-hour mark, but the Argentine miss-hit it. Foden interchanged with Bernando Silva throughout the first-half with one dropping inside and the other out wide.
It caused the Robins plenty of issues and Foden was once again out on the left to create an excellent chance in the 50th minute but no-one was on the end of his low cross. Then Foden wrapped up the win for City in the 74th minute as his low effort found the back of the net via a deflection.
Although Jack Grealish has been shining in the City XI at the moment, Foden has made a point to Guardiola that he should be starting more regularly after recovering from a foot issue.
De Bruyne wonderstrike
De Bruyne has come under some criticism of late for his performances and lack of goals, but the Belgian, like Foden, impressed for City against their Championship counterparts. He had a quiet first-half but came to life in the second-half as Guardiola's side sealed their place in the next round with two late goals.
Foden's second goal meant the hosts had to be more open and De Bruyne made the most of that by firing terrific effort into the bottom corner from 25 yards. It was an excellent effort from the ex-Chelsea man, who guided the ball beautifully off his right boot and it flew straight past the Robins goalkeeper.
Haaland omission
The 22-year-old was named on the bench for the trip to Ashton Gate, having started the last 10 matches in all competitions. It was a well-deserved rest for the striker, who has been in sensational form for City this campaign but has barely had any time off, playing 33 matches this season before the game in the South West.
Haaland didn't even make it off the bench as Guardiola gave the forward a night off entirely. Alvarez, Mahrez and Foden all impressed in his absence as Haaland prepares to face Newcastle on Saturday, where he is set to be recalled to the XI.
Bristol City impress
Despite coming out on the losing side, Nigel Pearson's Robins impressed on the night and gave a good account of themselves against the reigning Premier League champions. They created a number of excellent chances to score and arguably should've put at least one, if not more than that away.
The Robins pressed City from the get-go and made it an end-to-end affair, with Sam Bell going close early on but his effort was deflected wide off Ruben Dias. Despite going behind to Foden's strike, Bristol City didn't lose faith and continued to create chances. Bell was their key dangerman and fired another effort wide on 30 minutes.
Although the Robins kept City at arms length for the majority of the game, they were punished as Tomas Kalas deflected Foden's shot into his own net to all but seal City's progression. Then De Bruyne's effort put the Robins to the sword.
City aim for another FA Cup
Guardiola has won nine major trophies during his time at City, but has lifted the FA Cup just once in his career. That came in 2019 when they overcame Watford 6-0 in the final.
It could be said that they haven't done well enough in the competition, however, having lost in the semi-final in each of the last three campaigns. City were beaten by Chelsea last season, before losing to Liverpool and Manchester United in the previous two and they haven't just got over that hurdle in recent years.
However, Guardiola will be hoping he can lift the trophy for the second time, given that only Manchester United and Tottenham are the only two other so called big-six sides left in the competition. They are set to find out their opponents for the quarter-final after Sheffield United's clash with Spurs.
