Pep Guardiola enjoyed a winning start to his first managerial challenge in the FA Cup as his Manchester City side produced an emphatic 5-0 victory over West Ham United in the third round of the English showpiece this evening.
City took a little while to get going, but they should have been ahead early on when Kevin De Bruyne produced an incisive pass for David Silva, whose cut-back almost saw Pablo Zabaleta tuck home, but for a standout recovering challenge from Winston Reid.
The Hammers gave as good as they got in the opening half-hour, although they were thankful to Reid again on the 30-minute mark, as the centre-back produced another well-timed challenge to prevent Silva from finishing beyond Adrian in the West Ham goal.
With City pressure building, the home side eventually caved in not too long after, as Angelo Ogbonna was perceived to have brought down Zabaleta inside the area, leaving Yaya Toure to open the scoring from the spot.
The Irons might have gained a route back into the contest straight from kickoff, only for Sofiane Feghouli to scuff wide of an open goal following Michail Antonio's parried effort.
Slaven Bilic and his men were dealt a hammer blow a few minutes later too, when City produced a blistering counter-attack that eventually saw Havard Nordtveit put into his own net from a Bacary Sagna cross.
The visitors sensed the shift in momentum and they added a third just two minutes later, this time as Raheem Sterling conducted an adroit run in behind the defence before squaring for Silva, who made no mistake with a neat tap-in.
With the game seemingly beyond West Ham, Bilic might have urged his players to show some steel in the second period, but they soon found themselves four behind, as Sergio Aguero bagged a goal to crown him City's third-highest top scorer following a deft finish over Adrian in the 51st minute.
The home side's humiliation was not over just yet, though, as City returned to grab themselves a fifth goal with little over six minutes left to play, when John Stones rose highest in the box to head in a corner and earn his first goal for the club.
Christopher Dodd
