Carlos Tevez's 16th goal of the season helped
Manchester City earn a 4-2 win over second-tier Leicester in a FA
Cup third-round replay on Tuesday.
The Argentina striker set City on its way in the 15th minute with
a stunning individual effort and although he later missed a
second-half penalty, the hosts had too much for Leicester as they
set up a match at Notts County in the fourth round.
Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson scored in the space of 77 seconds
to put Roberto Mancini's side 3-1 up at the break and Aleksandar
Kolarov's late finish saw off the plucky visitors, coached by former
City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Premier League struggler Wolverhampton thrashed Doncaster 5-0 to
progress and will next play Stoke, which beat Cardiff 2-0 thanks to
two extra-time goals by striker Jon Walters.
Arsenal travels to Leeds, which plays in the second-tier League
Championship, on Wednesday in the other third-round replay.
Eriksson was making his return to Eastlands for the first time
since he was fired by City at the end of the 2007-08 season, after
just one year at the club.
Since then, things have changed a lot at a club which is second
in the Premier League and trailing neighbor Manchester United only
on goal difference. A group of wealthy Abu Dhabi investors has taken
over the club and its four scorers against Leicester were all signed
after the ex-England manager's departure.
The first match between the teams ended 2-2 at Leicester on Jan.
9, but the second-tier side battled just as gamely nine days on.
Tevez opened the scoring when he barged his way into the penalty
box before unleashing a powerful shot that flew into the net.
Paul Gallagher equalized from the penalty spot after holding
midfielder Vieira, one of four changes made by City from the 4-3 win
against Wolves in the Premier League at the weekend, brought down
Lloyd Dyer.
However, the hosts, four-time winners of the competition and one
of the favorites this season, netted twice in the space of a little
more than a minute to kill the game off.
Vieira made amends by tapping in from close range in the 37th
after Spain winger David Silva's shot was cleared off the line, and
Johnson ran onto a pass from Silva before slotting home a neat
finish.
Tevez missed a chance to double his tally for the evening when
his poor 57th-minute penalty, awarded after the Argentina
international was fouled by Jack Hobbs, was easily saved by
Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale.
With City almost playing at walking pace, Dyer set up a tense
finish by scoring with eight minutes left but Leicester was unable
to snatch an equalizer and Serbia left back Kolarov claimed City's
fourth following a late counterattack.
Off-season signing Steven Fletcher met Stephen Hunt's cross in
the fifth minute to put Wolves ahead at Molineux, before three goals
in the space of 13 second-half minutes put paid to second-tier
Doncaster's chances.
Belgian midfielder Geoffrey Mujangi Bia smashed in his first goal
for the Midlanders to make it 2-0 in the 61st and further goals by
Kevin Doyle and substitute Matt Jarvis made it 4-0. David Jones
added gloss to the scoreline with the team's fifth in second-half
stoppage time.
After a low-standard period of normal time at the Cardiff City
Stadium, Walters got Stoke off to the perfect start in extra time by
heading in Michael Tonge's cross after just one minute.
The same player ended Cardiff's hopes by finishing from an acute
angle in the 115th to seal the midtable Premier League team's
progress.
