City able to ignore their fatigue to cast aside Villa to reach Cup quarter-finals

Gerard Houllier must bear the brunt of the Villa fans’ ire after making eight changes to his previous Premier League starting line-up for a game against talented but tired opponents, with lower-league opposition the prize for victory.

None of this will bother City fans, who can once again think about ending 35 years without a trophy thanks to a fourth-minute opener from Yaya Toure and splendid efforts from Mario Balotelli and David Silva.

As City manager Roberto Mancini has been talking about how fatigued his players are at present, Houllier’s team selection raised more than a few eyebrows.

Showing improved form of late and inching clear of the relegation mire, the Midlands outfit were expected to take the fight to their opponents.

Instead, Houllier made eight changes and left Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Marc Albrighton on the bench, offering City a glimmer of hope their talent did not require.

When the two sides met in league combat on this ground in December, the Blues made a flying start. So they did again.

Villa were unfortunate in the sense Patrick Vieira’s fourth-minute header struck Ciaran Clark after Aleksandar Kolarov had swung in a corner. The ball fell perfectly for Toure, who smashed it home from three yards.

Villa did rally, with Gabriel Agbonlahor going close, but suddenly the energy that appeared sapped from City legs at the weekend returned.

Balotelli could not exactly be described as enthusiastic. Economy of effort seems to be the Italian’s default mode.

However, the 20-year-old is a supreme talent and his superb reading of Toure’s through-ball allowed him to streak clear of the Villa defence after 25 minutes.

Confidence is not a problem for the former Inter Milan star either, judging by the nonchalant manner in which he half-volleyed a shot into the roof of the net with Brad Friedel powerless to stop it.

It was the striker’s 10th goal in 18 eventful games for the Blues and Mancini must have felt fully vindicated in his decision to leave both Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko on the bench.

What must have been worrying though was the sight of Balotelli ruefully rubbing his right knee, which carried on for the remainder of the half, given he has already been sidelined for extended periods twice this season with a problem in the same area.

After a suitable period for dramatic effect, Balotelli emerged for the second half.

He hung around for a further 15 minutes, during which time he took on the unaccustomed role of peacemaker in a feud between Toure and former City captain Richard Dunne and also, completely needlessly, swiped an arm into Chris Herd’s face to pick up a yellow card.

Balotelli can be accused of many things. Being dull is not among them.

The same could also be said of Silva, who has even eclipsed Tevez as City’s outstanding performer this season.

When Clark made the fatal mistake of nodding Pablo Zabaleta’s cross into the Spaniard’s path, the result, a blistering shot into the bottom corner, was entirely predictable.

Beaten and bruised, there seemed no obvious reason for Houllier to go through with his plan to introduce Young and Downing when the possibility of injury was the only thing on offer.

The Frenchman must have taken a sharp intake of breath when Young limped away from one challenge, too, although the England man was able to continue.

City were in command though.

Tevez thundered a shot into Friedel’s chest after Kolarov had fired wide from long-range, then the Argentina star was thwarted by the American once more as his fruitless hunt for a goal continued.

Nicklas Bendtner fired a hat-trick as Arsenal shook off their Carling Cup final disappointment to set up a tie against Manchester United in the last eight of the FA Cup with a 5-0 thrashing of Leyton Orient.

The Gunners showed no sign of a hangover from the shock of losing to Birmingham at Wembley on Sunday as the League One side were brushed aside in clinical fashion in the fifth-round replay.

Marouane Chamakh set Arsene Wenger’s men on their way in the seventh minute with his first goal since the end of November, before Bendtner’s well-taken double put the result beyond doubt ahead of the interval.

The Denmark striker completed his treble from the penalty spot, with full-back Gael Clichy netting a rare effort with 15 minutes left.

Wenger welcomed the goalscoring efforts of Chamakh and Bendtner, especially given Robin van Persie’s absence.

“We cannot afford other injuries and for them to score is a bonus for us as we have so many games.”

As for the rest of the campaign, Wenger said: “It will be interesting until the end of the season.

“Every game now is a cup game – we had one (last night) and will have one on Saturday (in the league against Sunderland).”

Bendtner believes Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Leyton Orient underlined the team ethos at the Emirates Stadium. He said: “I think Arsenal is about the team and team performances and I think we showed that.”

Of the visit to Old Trafford, he said: “We know it is going to be difficult but we look very much forward to that game but we look very much to Sunderland on Saturday.”