Pep Guardiola refuses to rest Manchester City stars and they duly outclass Middlesbrough in FA Cup
Manager shows he is taking the competition seriously as first string cruise to a 2-0 victory ahead of decisive Champions League second leg on Wednesday
Manchester City cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 victory at Middlesbrough on Saturday as Pep Guardiola showed he is taking the competition seriously.
Goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero were scant reward for City as they easily out-classed Middlesbrough, who must have feared such an outcome when they witnessed the team named by Guardiola.
Ominously for Middlesbrough, currently languishing in the relegation zone after failing to win any of their last 10 Premier League games, all City’s world-class players were involved, despite the fact they face Monaco in a decisive Champions League last 16 second leg on Wednesday.
City’s extra class soon surfaced as three of Guardiola’s big guns combined to open the scoring in the third minute.
Yaya Toure’s angled pass was headed back across goal by Pablo Zabaleta and any one of three players could have put the ball beyond the goalkeeper Brad Guzan, with Silva applying the finishing touch.