MAN CITY 4 , HULL CITY 1
Manchester City tamed the Tigers to win through to the semi finals of the Capital One Cup.
It was a relatively straightforward last-eight tie as City overcame Hull City at the Etihad, though three it was close until the last 10 minutes.
City led through an early goal from Wilfried Bony and were never in difficulty, though Hull remained in with a shout until Manuel Pellegrini’s side put the game to bed in the last 10 minutes.
Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho doubled the lead before a quickfire double from Kevin De Bruyne put the seal on an impressive second-half display.
And the only lapse was an injury time consolation goal from Andrew Robertson from the Humberside club.
It was a happy Pellegrini after the game as he said: “I am very pleased because it was a difficult game against a team that is at the top of the Championship.
“More than it was out third game in less than one week as we played Wednesday, Saturday and tonight, and we got a great response from the squad.”
Pellegrini added it was important to reach the semi finals and also for David Silva and Bony to get game time after returning from injuries as well as for Iheanacho to get a run out.
“It is great for the squad to be involved in all competitions,” he explained.
Hull manager Steve Bruce thought the margin of victory flattered City.
He said: “It shows how cruel football can be as for 80 minutes we gave as good as we got and on another night it could have been a different story.
“We needed to stay in the game and did so for 81 minutes and by the 87th it was 4-0. It was never a 4-1 scoreline.”
It was a measure of City’s intent that they made only five changes from the side that kicked off against Southampton on Saturday.
And the players they brought in were all internationals – David Silva, Bony, Eliaquim Mangala, Jesus Navas and Gael Clichy.
The players to miss out were the injured Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, Martin Demichelis and Aleksandar Kolarov.
Sterling, Kolarov and Demichelis were on the bench that also included youngsters Manu Garcia and Cameron Humphreys.
Hull made seven changes from the side that started last Friday at home to Derby when the Tiger suffered their first defeat in 14 games.
Bony seized his chance as he gave City a 12th minute after Hull carelessly gave the ball away in midfield.
Fernandinho released De Bruyne whose shot struck the upright and rebounded to Bony who fired into an empty net from 15 yards for his fifth goal of the season from only seven starts.
And Bony had another good chance as he forced a decent save from keeper Eldin Jakupovic as City looked to take an even greater stranglehold on the game.
It was a game of few clear-cut openings, though early in the second half De Bruyne had a chance when his fiercely struck drive was beaten out by Jakupovic.
There was another on the hour when Bony headed on a Silva cross and Navas saw his shot fly just wide of the upright.
Sterling made his entrance in the 62nd minute replacing Navas in a straight swop out wide.
The lively De Bruyne had another decent goal attempt as his shot was turned away for a corner by the fingertips of Jakupovic, the former Bosnian under-21 and Swiss full international give his once refugee status.
Bony was replaced by Iheanacho with 20 minutes left.
City continued to create chances as Silva’s shot on the run flashed wide and Fabien Delph produced a great turn before forcing a decent save from Jakupovic.
Victory was sealed with 10 minutes left when substitutes Sterling and Iheanacho combined with deadly effect.
Sterling broke down the left and crossed with Iheanacho squeezed in-between two defenders to fire home his third goal of the season.
And two minutes later it was 3-0 when De Bruyne scored his eigth goal for City which came route one.
Keeper Willy Caballero’s long clearance was headed on by Iheanacho. Robertson attempted to head the ball back to Jakupovic but it was intercepted by the Belgium who fired home.
Five minutes later it was 4-0 with De Bruyne on target again with a fabulous free kick from inside the D that cleared the defensive wall and a player on the line. It was struck with deadly precision.
De Bruyne now has six goals and seven assists alone at the Etihad this season such has been the impact he had made.
Hull grabbed a consolation goal in the second minute of three of added time when Robertson played a delightful return pass with Abel Hernandez before lofting the ball over the advancing Cabellero.
City are now 10 games without a clean sheet at the Etihad, though it didn’t matter as they were safely through to the semi finals.