Manchester City took their time to demonstrate the gulf between the two clubs but, once they worked up a head of steam, it left their League One opponents grateful to be spared further punishment. Roberto Mancini's men can look forward to a fifth-round tie against Aston Villa courtesy of two headers from Patrick Vieira and a late onslaught that brought three goals from Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Micah Richards in the final six minutes.
Tevez has now scored 50 goals in his 74 appearances for the club, giving the Argentinian legitimate credentials to be recognised as the outstanding striker in their history. On a wider scale, however, the greater satisfaction for Mancini may come from Dzeko's contribution, an 89th-minute header to make it 4-0. The Bosnian subsequently wasted a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, Stuart Nelson, but his goal should soothe his confidence after Mancini's criticisms of his performance in the Europa League against Aris Thessaloniki last Tuesday.
Fifty-nine places below their hosts in the order of English football, Notts County played with spirit and togetherness. They will also think back to the moment, with the game scoreless, when Karl Hawley curled a wonderful shot against the post and dare to wonder what might have been. Yet the challenge of Paul Ince's team faded once Vieira had opened the scoring, heading David Silva's corner beyond Nelson in the 37th minute.
The second goal also came from a corner, Aleksandar Kolarov swinging the ball over from the left and Vieira directing a downhead header just inside the near post and, after that, City controlled the rhythm of the game and there was rarely any sense that they would forego their winning position.
Even so, the late capitulation of Ince's side was not truly in keeping with the game. Tevez, a second-half substitute, made it 3-0 when he ran on to Dzeko's clever through ball, rounded Nelson and slid the ball into an exposed net. Dzeko's header came from a Tevez cross and, as County failed to deal with another corner, Richards hooked in the fifth to make it a rout.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/20/manchester-city-notts-county-fa-cup
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