Scunthorpe beaten, next up is Stoke! *Video*

We defeated Scunthorpe today and now we must face Stoke at home in our quest for FA Cup glory.

We won 4 - 2 today with the goals coming from Petrov, Onuoha, Sylvinho and Robinho. They were all good goals with Sylvinho's being the pick of the bunch, Goals below!

We played alright today, not amazing but we did enough to get the job done. Scunthorpe were not bad and gave us a harder time than some Prem teams have this season, ultimately it was our class that shone through to help us win the game.

Our team was a much different one to usual today, two young men, Abdisalam Ibrahim and Greg Cunningham made their debuts. Ibrahim impressed me in the first half and although he faded in the second had an all round good game. Cunningham wasn't tested that much after coming on for de Jong in the second half, anything he did do was done well though.

I also thought that Boyata did well today, he has been a little shaky in his first couple of games at times but today he was very steady. Benjani was also a bit of an unsung hero, he worked very hard up top.

There was also a much better performance from Robinho today, he has took a lot of stick lately but did show signs of improvement today. He was trying a lot harder and was even tackling, he reverted to mixing his skill with doing the simple thing and it worked. He even scored after finishing off a good piece of build up, lets hope he continues to improve, if he isn't leaving that is!

Another Mancini win has seen us go through to play Stoke at home on the weekend of the 13/14Th of February. It is a good draw for us and we should be able to win it.

A few trips to Wembley for us lot this season? We shall see!

Goals.

Scunthorpe Utd vs Man City - Sun 24Th Jan 16:00 pm

Another Cup game against Scunthorpe sees us to travel to them this time round, it should not prove to be much of a task for us.

Having already beaten Scunthorpe 5 - 1 this season you would expect us to win this game, which I do. Scunny have been struggling in the Championship this season but they have been doing better lately, not that I expect that to make any difference to the result of this game.

We are expected to make a few changes for the game today and I will not be surprised if we do, any team that we put out today should be able to beat Scunthorpe and take some strain off our regular starters ahead of the Utd game.

Man City Team News:
Roque Santa Cruz and Patrick Vieira are both out with calf injuries and Joleon Lescott, Michael Johnson and Wayne Bridge all have knee problems which will see them miss out as well. Kolo Toure is still at the African Cup of Nations and Emmanuel Adebayor is still not ready to return to the pitch but was expected back in the Country today.

Scunthorpe Team News:
Josh Wright has recovered from illness and may return to the starting line up, Michael O'Connor misses out due to suspension. Big City fan Josh Lillis son of former City player Mark Lillis hopes to keep his place in goal against his beloved Blues.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Vidal, Boyata, Onuoha, Sylvinho, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Barry, Petrov, Robinho, Benjani.

Possible Scunthorpe Line Up: Lillis, Byrne, A.Wright, Mirfin, Williams, Thompson, Woolford, J.Wright, McCann, Hayes, Hooper.

My Prediction: Man City 3 - 1 Scunthorpe Utd.

Worth A Bet: Ireland scores the first goal in a 3 - 1 City win.

Next up Scunthorpe!

City have been drawn away from home to Scunthorpe in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The tie is due to take place on the weekend of the 23rd and 24Th of January.

A nice easy draw for us should see us progress into the fifth round.

Man City 5 - 1 Scunthorpe United (Ireland 3',Forte 26', Santa Cruz 38', Lescott 56', Tevez 71', Johnson 77 ') *Video*

Well we are through to the last eight after a good performance, we looked shaky after we took the lead for a short period but we went on to hammer Scunthorpe.

Our first goal was scored by Stephen Ireland, SWP layed him off and Ireland banged it in from outside the box. Scunthorpe then equalised through Forte, he had a simple tap in from close range. City took the lead again when Roque Santa Cruz headed home a Zabaleta cross, our next goal came from a corner with Lescott heading it in. Tevez scored our fourth from inside the box after the impressive Vladimir Weiss picked him out, our final goal came from Michael Johnson, he smashed the ball into the net from outside the box. GOALS AND HIGHLIGHTS BELOW!!!

We had a great start tonight after scoring early on but from there it went slightly pear shaped, Scunthorpe were pressing with confidence and Forte was running the line very well, then disaster struck when they equalised. Luckily we pulled ourselves together and went on to play well and give Scunthorpe a bit of a hammering.

We had a few players out tonight and the guys who came did a good job, Kompany at centre half looked very assured and steady, Sylvinho didn't do anything to make you think about his performance to much but at the same time if he had made a mistake then he would have entered your thoughts, so a good game for him. Ireland came back in and after starting on the left was drifting inside more and more as the game went on and looked something like the Ireland of last year. Santa Cruz was good up top nothing spectacular but he certainly makes himself a handful for defenders and when he has a few games under his belt I am sure he will be an important player for us. Johnson got on the pitch tonight and not only did he score a cracker but played pretty well and then there is Weiss, what a player this guy is, he looks really top quality and also set up Tevez for his goal. I still think SWP should be dropped so that Weiss can come in.

Overall, good performance against opposition that was not close to being anywhere near as good as us.

Now give us Man United at home in the next round!!!

P.S. didn't post last night due to no highlight videos being available.

Goals and highlights.

Man City vs Scunthorpe United - Wed 28Th Oct 19:45 pm

Just want to apologise for the late post and it is only short because I have got to get off to the match shortly, I have had a hectic day!

To the match, well we have got to win no matter what, no excuse can be made if we do not progress in the cup! Actually I say we have got to win, we have got to absolutely batter them in my opinion.

I do not expect a tough game tonight we should walk it, Scunthorpe really do not have any kind of quality to cause us any problems, there is only one way we will not win and that's if we don't play well, in fact a half decent performance from our squad should beat Scunthorpe.

Man City Team News:
Kolo Toure, Wayne Bridge and Martin Petrov are struggling with injury and should not play tonight, Robinho is still out with an ankle injury, Benjani Mwaruwari and Nedum Onuoha are still out with thigh injuries. Roque Santa Cruz has been ill with tonsillitis and is rated 50/50 to be in the squad, Pablo Zabaleta returns from suspension.

Scunthorpe Team News:
The away side have a few injury concerns with a lot of players expected to play whilst carrying injury. Gary Hooper is struggling with a foot injury and is more likely to miss out than play but David Mirfin should return to the squad after an illness.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Zabaleta, Lescott, Richards, Sylvinho, Wright-Phillips, Barry, De Jong, Tevez, Adebayor, Bellamy.

Possible Scunthorpe Line Up: Joe Murphy, Rob Jones, Cliff Byrne, Marcus Williams, Jordan Spence, Grant Mcann, Sam Togwell, Michael O'Connor, Josh Wright, Paul Hayes, Jonathan Forte.

My Prediction: Man City 3 - 0 Scunthorpe United.

Worth A Bet: Tevez scores in a 3 - 0 City win.