Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester City 3 Aston Villa 0: Yaya and Balotelli bullets shoot down Villans
Life has been difficult for Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier on his return to English football. Sometimes, though, he appears not to help himself.[LNB]Thrashed 4-0 here at Eastlands just before Christmas, Villa must have known they had a job on their hands last night. How odd, then, that Houllier should field a team that included neither Ashley Young nor Stewart Downing.[LNB]If Houllier was trying to protect his stars for the Barclays Premier League, that's his prerogative. All his selection did, though, was hand City this game on a plate.[LNB] Clinical: Yaya Toure scores the first goal for Manchester City[LNB]An early goal from Yaya Toure gaveCity an advantage they never looked like losing and Mario Balotellidoubled the lead sumptuously after half an hour. David Silva thenscored with 20 minutes left.[LNB]No shame in losing to City, ofcourse. But surely, with a quarter-final against Reading at stake lastnight, any team any manager would want to come here and at leastgive it a go. Downing and Young did eventually get on with 20 minutesleft. But with the score at 3-0, what was the point?[LNB]Houllier said: 'I started with threeup front and a team full of internationals. Emile Heskey went to theWorld Cup. My two central defenders are internationals.[LNB]'We started the game shakily andconceded two early goals. But I didn't see Brad Friedel making lots ofsaves. I don't think Downing and Young would have prevented the firstgoal. If I had to, I would do this again.'[LNB] Hitman: Mario Balotelli sprints away from Richard Dunne to score City's second[LNB]MATCH FACTS Manchester City: (4-3-2-1): Hart 6, Richards 6 (Boyota 83min), Boateng 6, Lescott 6, Zabaleta 6; Vieira 7, Y Toure 7 (Jo 80), Barry 7, Silva 6, Kolarov 6, Balotelli 7 (Tevez 60, 6). [LNB]Subs not used: Taylor, Johnson, Dzeko, Wabara.[LNB]Booked: Balotelli.[LNB]Aston Villa (4-5-1): Friedel 6, Herd 6,Dunne 6 (Walker 83), Clark 6, Delph 6,Delfouneso 5 (Downing 71, 6), Bradley 5(Young 71, 6), Petrov 5, Bannan 6,Agbonlahor 7, Heskey 6. [LNB]Subs not used: Marshall, Pires, Albrighton, Reo-Coker[LNB]Booked: Petrov, Clark, Agbonlahor.[LNB]Man of the match: Yaya Toure.[LNB]Referee: Mark Clattenburg 7. [LNB]City began as though they wanted toget this job over with quickly and, as it turned out, they scoredalmost straight away and had the game wrapped up after 25 minutes. Theywon a corner on their right in the fifth minute, Aleksandar Kolarovswung it in and when Patrick Vieira's header struck Ciaran Clark,Toure slammed the ball in from six yards.[LNB]Villa tried to hit back immediately.Gabriel Agbonlahor curled a right-foot shot past the far post from theangle of the area in the eighth minute before Barry Bannan drilled along-range shot straight at Joe Hart.[LNB]Nevertheless, City enjoyed themajority of the possession in the first half and virtually closed thegame out halfway through the opening period. [LNB]Once again the impressiveToure was involved as he picked up possession in his own half andchipped a ball forward for Balotelli to run on to. The Italian stillhad much to do when he moved on to the ball but the first-time finish,on the half-volley with his right instep, was sublime.[LNB]'It was awonderful goal and a good victory for us,' said manager RobertoMancini. 'I needed to try to rest players but the team did very well.'[LNB]With City in complete control athalf-time, the only issue looked like being how many goals they wouldscore. Before they had their chance to net a third, Balotelli pushedhis arm into the face of Chris Herd. [LNB] Silva service: City's David Silva scores the third goal[LNB]The Villa coaching staff seemed toimplore referee Mark Clattenburg to send Balotelli off. On the face ofit, though, the yellow card that was issued seemed sufficient.[LNB]As Silva struck a low shot into thecorner from 18 yards, Villa fans must have wondered what they werewatching. Their team were never at any stage in this game. Houllier,though, appears to know best.[LNB] Close encounter: Richard Dunne clashes with Yaya Toure[LNB] Houllier: Man City loss in December was the lowest point of my careerAlbrighton sets his sights on Wembley appearance ahead of fifth-round clash with Man CityMan City looking to bolster midfield with Ghana World Cup ace AsamoahFA CUP LIVE: Arsenal v Leyton Orient and Manchester City v Aston Villa - as it happenedAll the latest Aston Villa news, features and opinionAll the latest Manchester City news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: David Silva, Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Gerard Houllier, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey, Joe Hart
