Manchester City stormed into the quarter-final of the FA Cup following a 3-0 win over Bristol City. City manager Pep Guardiola named a strong attacking line-up for the fifth-round encounter at Ashton Gate and he was rewarded with a comfortable victory. Phil Foden struck twice while Kevin De Bruyne scored a stunning one to complete the win. Second-tier Bristol fought valiantly but was simply outclassed in the second half of the game. Though Bristol performed well to trouble their opponent, City’s quality made the difference.

Manchester City started off the game in a dynamic style with Kalvin Phillips hitting the crossbar. It did not take long for City to take the lead as England forward Foden found the net in the 7th minute of the game. Nathan Ake quarterbacking from deep sent a long diagonal toward Riyad Mahrez on the right. Mahrez burst into space, fired low and hard across the face of the hosts’ goal, and Foden slammed high into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

Bristol never looked down and played hard to find an equalizer. The hosts had a good shout for a penalty declined when Mark Sykes went down under a challenge from Rico Lewis in the area while Alex Scott forced City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to make a decent save.

Bristol has been marvelous, pushing the Premier League champions hard. Bristol was very much in the game but their resistance was broken when De Bruyne split their defense with a fine pass to Ake, who fed Alvarez in the middle. Alvarez made a cross to Foden, who attempted a shot for the bottom left. The ball went wide, Bristol defender Zak Vyner trying to save the goal sticks out a leg but only diverts into his own net.

Seven minutes later De Bruyne produced a world-class act to make it 3-0. The 31-year-old Belgian midfielder shook it all off, storming down the middle before steering a glorious low curler into the bottom right of the net from 25 yards. City held on to the lead to clinch a remarkable win.

Meanwhile, Leicester City’s hopes of repeating their 2021 triumph were dashed after they suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat against second-tier Blackburn Rovers at King Power Stadium. Tyrhys Dolan and Sammie Szmodics were on target in the first half before Kelechi Iheanacho’s reply. Blackburn ended the Foxes’ bid to reach a second FA Cup final in three seasons.