Aston Villa 0-4 Manchester City

Kelechi Iheanacho scored a hat-trick as Manchester City eased into the fifth round of the FA Cup by thrashing beleaguered Aston Villa.

City went ahead within the first four minutes as the home side failed to clear a corner and Iheanacho swept in a finish from close range.

The visitors doubled their lead from Iheanacho's cool penalty after Raheem Sterling was brought down in the box.

Iheanacho ran clear for his third goal and Sterling poked in a fourth.

Striker Iheanacho could even have had four but failed to connect with a shot after making a run into the opposition box and Fernandinho's long-range drive was pushed over by goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Reaction from all of Saturday's games here

Slick City stay on course for quadruple

This was potentially a tricky tie for City, against a Villa side who were unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions. But the away side took control by scoring twice within the first 24 minutes.

City's progress into the fifth round keeps alive their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple as they lie second in the Premier League, in the knockout stages of the Champions League and face Liverpool in the final of the League Cup.

Ahead of the match, boss Manuel Pellegrini played down talk of winning all four trophies this season, but on this form City will take some stopping, even with the likes of Yaya Toure, David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne missing.

And having left Sergio Aguero on the bench, 19-year-old Nigerian Iheanacho stepped up to show his potential with a calmly taken treble and has now scored eight times in his debut campaign.

Have Villa shown they can stay up?

No. Bottom of the league and the lowest scorers in the division, Villa were outclassed and rarely threatened to make a breakthrough in the match.

Idrissa Gana forced Willy Caballero into a sprawling save from long range and Carles Gil's free-kick was well saved by the City goalkeeper, but that was the closest they came. Striker Jordan Ayew was anonymous in the match.

Villa striker Jordan Ayew touched the ball just once inside the opposition area and didn't manage any shots at goal. In fact, five of his touches came on the centre spot, four to take the kick off after conceding, and one to start the match in the second half

Swathes of empty seats were visible inside Villa Park, with thousands of home supporters deciding not to attend the match. Only 23,636 turned up for the competition in which their team reached the final last year.

Have they accepted their fate of relegation to the Championship? Villa have won more cup matches this season (3) than league (2), and they are 10 points off safety with 15 games to go. They will need a huge turnaround to preserve their status in the top flight. On this dismal showing, it looks highly unlikely.

Man of the match - Kelechi Iheanacho

What they said:

Hat-trick hero Kelechi Iheanacho: "I am so happy to score today. It is my first hat-trick and I am hopeful of more to come. I took my time to score the third goal. I waited for the goalkeeper to see where he went. It is a great feeling when the fans chant my name and I am grateful they came to support us."

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: "I'm very happy. Kelechi is a very good young player. We let Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko go because I see Kelechi every day and know what he can do.

"Bacary Sagna played well at centre-back, he didn't make any mistakes, and Willy Caballero was solid in goal."

Aston Villa boss Remi Garde: "When you start the game so poorly, it is difficult. After the first two goals, they played quietly and we did not have much danger to cope with.

"The penalty was a bit harsh but it is done. I don't want to blame the team too much and we have important games coming up."

What next?

Villa travel to West Ham in the Premier League on Tuesday, while City go to Sunderland on the same day. Both matches kick-off at 19:45 GMT.

The stats you need to know:

Kelechi Iheanacho became the third Manchester City player to score a hat-trick this season, after Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling
Aston Villa's last two FA Cup matches against Premier League sides have ended in 4-0 defeats.

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Aston Villa

Formation 4-3-3

1Guzan
7BacunaBooked at 27mins
4Richards
6Clark
43Cissokho
17Veretout
8Gueye
15WestwoodBooked at 45minsSubstituted forOkoreat 45'minutes
25GilSubstituted forGrealishat 80'minutes
19J Ayew
9SinclairSubstituted forAgbonlahorat 65'minutes

Substitutes

5Okore
11Agbonlahor
16Lescott
21Hutton
31Bunn
38Lyden
40Grealish

Man City

Formation 4-3-3

13Caballero
5ZabaletaBooked at 69mins
3Sagna
30OtamendiSubstituted forHumphreys-Grantat 88'minutes
22ClichySubstituted forAngelinoat 81'minutes
25FernandinhoSubstituted forCelinaat 78'minutes
6Reges
18Delph
15Navas
72Iheanacho
7SterlingBooked at 27mins

Substitutes

1Hart
10Agüero
21Silva
59Celina
62Barker
69Angelino
77Humphreys-Grant

Referee:: Mike Jones
Attendance:: 23,636

Match Stats

Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamMan City

Possession: Home57%; Away43%

Shots: Home8; Away13

Shots on Target: Home3; Away10

Corners: Home5; Away3

Fouls: Home6; Away10

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Aston Villa 0, Manchester City 4.
90'+4'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Aston Villa 0, Manchester City 4.

88'
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Cameron Humphreys-Grant replaces Nicolás Otamendi.
84'
Post update
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
84'
Post update
Foul by Bersant Celina (Manchester City).
82'
Post update
Offside, Aston Villa. Idrissa Gueye tries a through ball, but Jordan Ayew is caught offside.
82'
Post update
Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Nicolás Otamendi.
81'
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Angelino replaces Gaël Clichy.
80'
Substitution
Substitution, Aston Villa. Jack Grealish replaces Carles Gil.
80'
Post update
Attempt blocked. Carles Gil (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Leandro Bacuna.
78'
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Bersant Celina replaces Fernandinho.
76'
Goal!
Goal! Aston Villa 0, Manchester City 4. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kelechi Iheanacho.
76'
Post update
Attempt missed. Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) left footed shot from the right side of the six yard box misses to the left.
76'
Post update
Attempt saved. Fernandinho (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Raheem Sterling.
74'
Goal!
Goal! Aston Villa 0, Manchester City 3. Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.
73'
Post update
Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Raheem Sterling.
72'
Post update
Offside, Manchester City. Fabian Delph tries a through ball, but Raheem Sterling is caught offside.
71'
Post update
Attempt missed. Jordan Veretout (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Carles Gil.
69'
Booking
Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card.
69'
Post update
Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the left wing.

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