Manchester City swept into the League Cup quarter-finals with another stylish display as Roberto Mancini's team routed Wolves 5-2 at Molineux on Wednesday.
City arrived for this fourth round tie in confident mood after a remarkable 6-1 victory at champions Manchester United on Sunday which moved them five points clear at the top of the Premier League and sparked talk of a major power shift in English football.
City supporters remain in celebratory mood, waving cards carrying the number six in homage to their destruction of their bitter Manchester rivals and they have a new song too, stealing a tune from United fans to chant; "We're Manchester City and we score when we want".
It is no idle threat. Even Mancini's understudies are a formidable unit and two goals from Edin Dzeko, as well as strikes from Adam Johnson and Samir Nasri and a Dorus De Vries own goal, demolished struggling Wolves in emphatic fashion.
None of the 11 players on duty at Old Trafford started here but City's reserves still totalled almost £120 million in transfer fees and Mick McCarthy's under-strength team were no match.
It was as if Nenad Milijas's goal after 18 minutes, the product of an excellent run and cross by Sam Vokes, one of nine changes to the side which had drawn with Swansea at the weekend, simply stirred the most dangerous beast in the Premier League.
Four goals in a 13-minute spell either side of half-time was the punishment City dealt out to their hosts.
City have scored 20 goals in their last five games and Wolves were powerless to resist from the moment Dzeko cut the ball back to the edge of the area for Johnson to sweep an arcing shot from the edge of the area beyond De Vries.
Johnson provided a master class of passing as his through ball sent Nasri racing clear to put City ahead in the tie for the first time.
Dzeko was the man who added the flourish at Old Trafford with two late goals and the Bosnian continued his impressive season here with the third goal in the 40th minute after Luca Scapuzzi's shot was parried into his path.
Another Nasri shot was spilled by De Vries and Scapuzzi's shot was pushed in by De Vries in the 50th minute as Wolves simply had no answer to the pedigree at Mancini's disposal.
Dzeko made it five in the 64th minute from Stefan Savic's cross.
To their credit Wolves never threw in the towel and demonstrated they are firmly behind their manager McCarthy after the weekend demonstrations by angry Wolves fans wanting their manager removed from office.
There were no dissenting voices at Molineux despite the hefty defeat.
At least McCarthy had the satisfaction of scoring the final goal as substitute Jamie O'Hara?s first touch found the net from Stephen Ward's cross.
It will be of little consolation for McCarthy, but his season will not be defined by nights like this, nor the weekend return meeting with City in the Premier League at Eastlands.
McCarthy will be concentrating firmly on his next home league game against Wigan Athletic, which will have a far greater bearing on his future.
Source: AFP
