City 5 - 0 Notts County: Match report

There seem to be two schools of thought amongst managers when it comes to tackling opponents from a number of divisions down.  The first one is you take a pick from your promising young players and reserve players with something to prove and hope their desire to show their worth overcomes the motivation deficit that can be apparent when playing 'weaker' sides.  The second is that you pick a strong side who may find motivation difficult, but will have sufficient class to see out the fixture in the end.  Yesterday's game was very much the latter.  Energy comparisons in the first twenty minutes between, say, Yaya Toure and Neal Bishop would undoubtedly reflect badly on the City man.

Yet, to an extent, this is to be expected.  Whilst this was a huge occasion for the County players - people like Yaya, whilst complacency may be the wrong word, would see it as a necessary complication on the way to a bigger prize.  Thus, for the first twenty minutes, County were on top.  First to every ball, stifling City's attempts at patient build-up, and creating openings as well.  Hawley's shot against the post was a little too close for comfort.

After that initial surge, however, City began to take control - and largely in a completely new way.  Vieira said after the game that the team's height should make us more effective at set plays than we have been, and most of our attempts before the break came from teasing free-kicks from Kolarov or corners.

Balotelli should have had a penalty.  His reputation is beginning to precede him now and whilst he may not be ideal to referee, if someone stands on your ankle in the box then it is still generally a penalty.

The late flurry of goals in the last ten minutes may have been less than charitable in the face of the effort from the away side but, for the hopeful, it did offer some glimpses of Tevez and Dzeko working together as a partnership.  The excellent quick feet of Dzeko that set Tevez clear for his goal was quickly repaid by the cutely placed cross Tevez laid on for Dzeko to grab his first goal in front of the City fans.  Striking partnerships are things that take time to fully develop - as an acute understanding of each other's game is vital - and this can only come with games.

If City can overcome Villa in the 5th round, Everton await us.  Without getting too ahead of ourselves, Everton are something of a bogey side at home - but, to end on a wonderful FA Cup cliché: as Notts County proved, and Leicester before them, there are no easy games if you want to go all the way in cup competition.