Man City 6 (Negredo 12, 26, 49, Toure 40, Dzeko 60, 89), West Ham 0
The only surprise, perhaps, was that Manchester City restricted themselves to six. The tie was so one-sided, the level of opposition so utterly abject, that there were moments when it was easy to imagine another seven-goal haul to emulate what happened against Norwich, never mind the six that Arsenal and Tottenham sieved inside this stadium. The fifth goal went in before the hour had even passed. After that, the goal machine that is Manuel Pellegrini’s team must have been feeling charitable to add only one more.
Their latest haul, incorporating a stylish hat-trick from Alvaro Negredo, takes their tally to 59 goals in 15 home matches this season, and they are almost averaging four a game. West Ham certainly did their bit, however, to be remembered as the least distinguished team to visit this ground this season. It was a capitulation that makes the return leg nothing but a formality and means City can start their arrangements for a final at Wembley against either Sunderland or Manchester United on 2 March. Judging by the chants here of "David Moyes is a football genius," their supporters will not be too alarmed by the prospect of an all-Manchester affair.
Move on to Cardiff
West Ham, meanwhile, move on to the game at Cardiff City on Saturday that Sam Allardyce had always prioritised, but are lurching deeper into crisis and with voluble signs that a good proportion of the club's followers have already had enough. There were loud, abusive chants from their part of the stadium, along with more plaintive cries of "we want our West Ham back."
At one point early on, Allardyce’s team won a corner, and the fans in the away end celebrated as though a goal had been scored. Unfortunately, in football, it is never a promising sign when supporters resort to gallows humour. The corner was cleared and it was the next piece of action that saw Yaya Toure pick out Negredo’s run for his first goal. The ball came from a good 40 yards, dropping over Negredo’s left shoulder, but the Spaniard took the opportunity with the expertise he has shown all season.
It was a wonderfully taken volley, on the turn, driving his shot into the bottom corner, and when he added his second, after 26 minutes, the West Ham supporters who saw their team trounced 5-0 by Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday must have known they were in for another ordeal.
Solitary striker
Their team had Mohamed Diame, a midfielder, playing as the solitary striker and a full-back, George McCartney, in the centre of defence alongside Roger
Johnson, who was fast-tracked straight into the team after his loan arrangement from Wolverhampton Wanderers. They were, to put it bluntly, completely out of their depth.
Perhaps the most alarming part for West Ham was that their opponents were also giving the impression that they were a good notch or two below their absolute optimum. The bottom line is that City did not have to be at their absolute best when the gulf was so considerable. Plenty of teams have taken a pummelling at the Etihad this season, but not all of them have raised the white flag so quickly. For West Ham, there was a now-familiar sense of embarrassment.
Negredo’s second was another beauty, flicking the ball into Edin Dzeko, then running on to the return pass and sweeping a diagonal left-foot shot beyond the oncoming Adrian, West Ham’s overworked goalkeeper, the ball still rising as it flew into the top corner.
By now the game had already became an exercise in damage-limitation for West Ham, and when Toure surged straight through the middle of West Ham's defence to make it three, six minutes before the interval, any lingering hopes of Allardyce's team finding a way back into the tie went from miniscule to non-existent.
Most formidable sights
Those driving runs from Toure are one of the sport's most formidable sights, but there was something fairly wretched about the way Johnson simply retreated, backing further away, until Toure was in the penalty area and deciding where to put his shot.
Johnson looked what he was: a Championship or League One defender trying to stop the most formidable attack in the land. He was almost in the away end by the took Toure took aim.
Negredo’s hat-trick, taking his personal total to 18 goals in 28 appearances, came from another of those quick, penetrating passing moves through and around the opposition’s defence, culminating in a stylish finish to David Silva’s pass.
Dzeko made it 5-0 when he stabbed in Gael Clichy's cross, and at that stage there was still more than a third of the game to go. Allardyce, sheltering from the rain, with his hood up and his hands in his pockets, was cutting a forlorn figure even before Dzeko smashed in his second goal of the night.
MANCHESTER CITY: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Toure (Demichelis 66), Javi Garcia, Nasri, Silva (Lopes 73), Dzeko, Negredo (Kolarov 79). Subs not used: Hart, Milner, Fernandinho, Nastasic.
WEST HAM: Adrian, Demel, Johnson, McCartney, O'Brien (Rat 75), Noble (Diarra 57), Diame, Taylor, Downing, Maiga (Carlton Cole 46), Joe Cole. Subs not used: Jarvis, Collison, Morrison, Jaaskelainen.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).
Guardian Service
