FA Cup Quarter Final
Saturday 9 March 2013, 17.30 KO
City: Pantilimon, Zabaleta (c), K Toure, Lescott, Kolarov, Y Toure, Barry, Silva (Razak 67), Tevez (Milner 77), Nasri (Sinclair 53), Dzeko
Unused: Hart, Clichy, Nastasic, Garcia
Goals: Tevez (11, 31, 50), Kolarov (27), Silva (65)
Booked: Y Toure
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Man of the Match: Carlos Tevez
It was the home side who got off to the better start, but it was the visitors with the first half-chance, as Harewood stole the ball from Kolarov and crossed towards Etuhu in the middle – though Kolo Toure was there to remove the danger. Dzeko headed City’s first chance of the game over the bar as he couldn’t quite stretch enough to reach Nasri’s high ball into the box with just nine minutes played.
Two minutes later, though, and the five times FA Cup winners were in front: Good work from Dzeko on the left flank found Yaya Toure on the edge of the box. With the crowd baying for him to shoot, he chipped it into the path of Silva, whose shot was brilliantly touched onto the post by Steele. The goalkeeper, though, could only watch as Tevez tucked the rebound into the empty net.
The game went a bit flat for the next few minutes, as City kept possession well and Barnsley struggled to get out of their own half. With 27 minutes on the clock, the blues extended their lead, as Kolarov arrived late at the back post to slide Tevez’s square ball into the net, after Dzeko had won it back inside the visitors’ half.
It only took three minutes for City to add another. Some brilliant possession football dragged Barnsley’s back line all over the place and, with a loose ball in the box falling to Tevez, the Argentine swivelled and shot, knocking it into the back of the net. With just over half an hour played, it looked the like the tie was over and City would be in the hat for the semi finals.
Tevez and Dzeko both tried to extend the blues’ lead further in the remaining minutes of the first half, but both the Argentine and the Bosnian’s efforts were well turned away by Steele. It had already become a training game as Tevez once again was inches from adding a fourth goal for City, trying a neat flick to turn in a low Nasri cross from the left.
The first action of the second half saw Tevez clinch yet another hat-trick in a Manchester City shirt. For his third goal of the game, he dropped to the penalty spot as Nasri delivered a low ball into the box and, with a bit of a scuff off his heel, re-directed the cross into the bottom corner, leaving Steele with no chance. City were cruising.
With 56 minutes played, Pantilimon’s clean sheet came under threat for the first time. A dipping volley from the edge of the box from Mellis needed two palms from the Romanian to get it away from danger, before Tunnicliffe found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only to see Pantilimon block his strike with his left boot.
Just after the hour mark, though, City added another goal to their tally. Silva was late arriving into the box to connect with Zabaleta’s cross, but it was straight at the goalkeeper. Steele, though, was all out of luck, as the rebound bounced into the Spaniard and left him with a simple task of a gentle touch into the back of the open goal. That was the twelfth goal City had scored against Barnsley in two games at The Etihad Stadium.
The game slowed to an almost-walking pace as the hosts killed off the tie. Milner went very close to adding a sixth goal as he cut inside onto his left foot, but his powerful drive smacked off the inside of the post and bounced away to safety, with Steele left standing. Lescott went close from a corner, but he couldn’t keep his header down at the back post.
City were through to the FA Cup semi finals and are yet to concede in this season’s competition.