Manchester City sauntered into the fourth round of the FA Cup as James McAtee scored a hat-trick in an 8-0 drubbing of League Two side Salford City at the Etihad Stadium.
Jeremy Doku weighed in with two goals while Jack Grealish ended his long scoring drought and youngsters Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also struck in a one-sided encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
It was a brutal exhibition by a much-changed City, whose fans revelled in the beating dished out to their ‘Class of 92’-owned visitors.
Night to forget for Neville at rivals’ home
Nico O’Reilly stretched City’s lead in the first half
Gary Neville, one of that group of famous former Manchester United players, was taunted mercilessly as the goals flew in.
The England full-back turned pundit and businessman was not actually present to witness the rout, but colleagues Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were on hand to see it unfold in agonising detail from the stands.
Ryan Giggs, the sporting director who also has a backroom role, was also at close hand in the technical area as the biggest game in Salford’s history quickly turned sour.
Doku celebrates scoring the opening goal against Salford City
City made nine changes from the side that overran West Ham last weekend and took the opportunity to hand a debut to 20-year-old Mubama and further experience to 19-year-olds O’Reilly and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.
Simpson-Pusey was one of only two specialist defenders in the side along with the experienced Nathan Ake but, with a bench stacked with quality, Pep Guardiola had plenty of insurance should things have gone wrong.
Yet Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden needed only to look on as City quickly established control.
The hosts took the lead after only eight minutes as Matheus Nunes seized possession and fed Grealish, who played the ball wide for Doku to sweep past Matty Young from a tight angle.
The second came after 20 minutes as Savinho played in Nunes and he pulled back for Mubama to slide in for a simple finish.
Salford City couldn’t handle Doku’s direct running
Salford had chances to reply as City eased off the pressure, with Kylian Kouassi shooting at Ederson after a good run and later fluffing a shot from an excellent cross by Hakeeb Adelakun.
Kevin Berkoe also snatched at an effort but City simply moved up through the gears in response.
Doku weaved his way to the byline and O’Reilly firmly drove home his first senior goal before the break.
Grealish, without a goal in club football since December 2023, got back on the scoresheet four minutes after the break.
The England international might have scored from open play after Mubama raced onto a poor backpass to set him up, but he made no mistake from the spot after being felled by Ossama Ashley.
McAtee celebrates scoring his side’s fifth goal
City’s fifth came from a fluid move soon after as Nunes released Doku and his first-time cross was deftly guided in by McAtee.
Things quickly started to spiral out of control for Salford, who conceded a second penalty when Doku’s shot struck the arm of captain Curtis Tilt.
Doku this time sent Young the wrong way, and the keeper was beaten again when substitute Foden’s driven ball was well-controlled and tucked away by McAtee.
McAtee completed his treble nine minutes from time when he turned in a Grealish cross.
Player of the match – James McAtee
McAtee’s display will have alerted potential suitors
Man City hat-trick hero James McAtee told the BBC: “I was quite frustrated in the first half, wasn’t seeing much of the ball. When the first one went in, my confidence was up and I kept scoring.
“I’ve been here since I was 10 and it’s a special moment for me. Something I’ll remember forever. I don’t think I needed to prove myself but to get out there and show people what I can do, it’s a good moment for me.”
Guardiola: Grealish output depends on him
Jack Grealish is all smiles after his converted penalty
Man Ciy boss Pep Guardiola told the BBC: “Jack [Grealish] made a good assist as well, not just the goal. He scored a goal, made an assist. Jack’s a special player, not always one to score a lot of goals but it depends on him.
“If he can perform well, he’ll take the opportunity to keep going and going. All the players depend on the performance in training sessions and when they have minutes to play. It’s simple, not just for Jack, for all of them.
“I’ve been manager here for more than 500 games and we’ve made an incredible 487 or 488 games. Then we had 11, 12 or 13 bad games.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Kyle Walker has told the club he would like explore a move abroad for a ‘new experience’.
“The problem that we’ve had is that we’ve had an incredible amount of injuries so we could not train and we could not compete. It’s so difficult but step by step, people are coming back.
“This season or maybe next season, new players come in and you have to fight for your position. When someone pushes you, you have competition and you give your best.”
Robinson: A glimmer of what we want to be
Salford boss Karl Robinson told the BBC: “You always know you’re at the mercy of the quality of the competition.
“Man City and Pep have never disrespected anybody and they showed us why they are what they are and why he is who he is. It’s about dusting ourselves off, we’ve come on so much in 12 months and to be where we are in the league.
“We have one goal and that is to get out of this league. This is a glimmer of what we want to be and we know we’ve got so much to improve and we know where we want to be.”
