Manchester City cruised to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday to pile on the misery on Graham Potter.
A brace from Riyad Mahrez and goals from Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden sealed the deal for Pep Guardiola’s men at the Etihad stadium as Chelsea failed to turn up for the game.
This was the second meeting between both teams in the space of three days as Mahrez scored the winner in City’s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge. The Algerian forward continued his fine run against the Blues as he whipped in a freekick in the 23rd minute to give his side the lead.
Alvarez would double the advantage for Guardiola’s side in the 30th minute through a penalty after VAR intervened and spotted a handball from Kai Havertz inside the box.
Foden made it 3-0 in the 38th minute to effectively put the game to bed as City appeared to be in cruise control without the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne on the field.
Mahrez would then add the finishing touches to the thumping win by converting a penalty in the 85th minute to secure City’s safe passage into the next round.
Stevenage pulled off a stunning comeback in their FA Cup tie against Aston Villa to dump Unai Emery’s men out of the competition.
Villa appeared to be in control of the match after Morgan Sanson put them in front in the 33rd minute. However, the complexion of the game completely changed in the 85th minute as Leander Dendoncker was shown a red card.
Jamie Reid scored a penalty in the 88th minute to level things up for the League Two side before Dean Campbell stepped up in the 90th minute to seal one of the biggest upsets of this year’s competition.