Manchester City stroll to FA Cup win

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez contributed to the 5-0 victory with his 84th-minute strike.

LONDON: Manchester City scored three times in the closing minutes as England’s richest club beat the country’s oldest league club Notts County 5-0 in an FA Cup fourth-round replay at Eastlands.

Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Micah Richards all scored late goals as City sealed a fifth-round tie against Aston Villa following two earlier headers from Patrick Vieira.

Vieira headed their first two goals from corners, before Tevez rounded Notts keeper Stuart Nelson after a breakaway in the 84th minute to make it 3-0.

Dzeko headed City’s fourth goal five minutes later before Richards completed the scoring in the 89th minute.

Klasnic nets winner for Bolton

Bolton beat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage to secure a quarter-final clash at Birmingham.

Fulham were unbeaten in their last six games, but they fell behind in the 19th minute when Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic pounced on a poor clearance to drill a fine volley past Mark Schwarzer.

It was a good day for Klasnic, who had scored the winner against Wigan in this week’s fourth round replay.

United end Crawley’s fairytale run

Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson accused Manchester United players of failing to understand the importance of the FA Cup after the 11-time winners struggled to reach the sixth round at the expense of non-League opposition.

United were given an uncomfortable time by Crawley before edging past the team 1-0 to book a quarter-final spot.

But United’s victory came at a cost as Anderson, Rafael da Silva and Fabio da Silva were injured and are now all doubtful for Wednesday’s Champions League game away to Marseille.

Ferguson made his feelings clear after his players failed to perform. “Some players came in and didn’t do themselves justice,” said Ferguson.

“We might have some players who don’t understand what the FA Cup is all about. That is the biggest lesson for them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2011.