Manchester City 5 Barnsley 0: Tevez the driving force as Mancini's men reach FA Cup semis in style
By ROB DRAPER
Carlos Tevez has had what public relations people describe as an eventful week, arrested for allegedly driving while disqualified and then bailed. Barnsley might have wished he was detained a little longer.
The energy and ingenuity he brings to teams can bamboozle the best and, hard though the Championship's bottom club tried yesterday, they would never be able to compete with Manchester City. No shame in that; Tevez can be magnificent and yesterday, granted the necessary space, he gathered a hat-trick and departed to a standing ovation.
Driving force: Carlos Tevez was the star man as City thrashed Barnsley
Match facts
Man City: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Lescott, Kolarov, Nasri (Sinclair 53), Yaya Toure, Barry, Silva (Razak 66), Dzeko, Tevez (Milner 76).
Subs not used: Hart, Javi Garcia, Clichy, Nastasic.
Booked: Y Toure.
Goals: Tevez 11, 31, 50, Kolarov 27, Silva 65.
Barnsley: Steele, Wiseman, Cranie, Kennedy, Foster, Etuhu (Mellis 53), Tunnicliffe, Perkins, Cywka (O'Brien 52), Dagnall (Scotland 52), Harewood.
Subs not used: Lidakevicius, Hassell, Delap, Rose.
Booked: Tunnifcliffe.
Att: 46,728.
Ref: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
His manager, Roberto Mancini, was relaxed enough to joke about his arrest:
'If this is the effect on him, I hope that the police can stop him every day' - although, potentially, Tevez could be jailed for flouting his ban. Mancini insisted it had not crossed his mind to drop him, adding: 'I don't know about this [the arrest]. It is only in the newspaper.
'We have not talked about it. I don't know if it is true or not. It is his problem. It is not our problem.'
Mancini and Tevez appeared to clash after the striker was substituted in the 76th minute but the Italian said: 'Carlos asked to come off. I asked him if he was all right and he said he was.'
It seems an age ago that Mancini exiled Tevez and said that he would never play for the club again.
'For now it's important that he continues to score because we need his goals for the end of the season,' said the City manager.
'After this, in the summer, I don't know.
There we go: Tevez set Roberto Mancini's side on their way early on
Moving on: Tevez played in Aleksander Kolarov who drilled in to the bottom corner
'Carlos has another year's contact. It depends on him. Many times he has said he wants to go back to Argentina - but now we can't think about this.'
To be fair to Barnsley, they played their part. The team got together for one-of those pre-match huddles, led by captain Luke Steele, in which you try to convince yourself that something extraordinary might occur.
Their fans turned up in impressive numbers and roared when their team won a corner. The players sprinted around in a display of collective commitment.
All the ingredients a humble FA Cup giant-killer required were present. The illusion, however, lasted 11 minutes, and to no one's surprise.
This, after all, was a team that had sunk to the foot of the Championship before kick-off, results elsewhere going against them.
To see Tevez, David Silva and Yaya Toure lining up against them felt almost like bad sportsmanship from Mancini, as though he was not even going to allow the underdogs to fulfil their role as plucky competitors.
It was also, of course, an indication of City's priorities, with the Premier League effectively out of reach.
Not long ago, making an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley might have qualified a City team for an open-top bus parade; yesterday it just felt routine.
But come the end of the season, the FA Cup win might prove an acceptable fig leaf with which to cover the season's shortcomings.
Well done Carlos: Silva congratulates his team-mate after Tevez bagged City's third
Easy does it: It was a happy day at the office for Man City
City's procession to the semi-finals began when Yaya Toure produced a delightful chip over the defence to Silva.
Instinctively, he prodded the ball goalwards and though Steele got a hand on it, he could only guide the shot towards the post.
Make their own fun: A Barnsley fan holds a flare above his head during the quarter-final
Slim chance: David Flitcroft's side were never in the game, with City in no mood for an upset
Give that man the match ball: Tevez completed his hat-trick
The deflection fell for the ever-attentive Tevez to finish from close range. To Barnsley's credit, 15 minutes passed before the second goal was added: Edin Dzeko won the ball in midfield, released Tevez down the right for the Argentine to pull back a low cross that Aleksandar Kolarov, sprinting from deep, finished.
Another four minutes and it was 3-0. Silva swept the ball out to Kolarov who returned it to the Spaniard in the box. Silva then cut it back to Tevez, who swivelled, turned and shot home from six yards.
Barnsley really had little to show for their first-half endeavours other than a Chris Dagnall header. It spun wide, bobbling away limply.
It was difficult for even the 6,000 Barnsley fans to become excited. Tevez completed his hat-trick five minutes into the second half.
Samir Nasri moved easily away from Kelvin Etuhu and pulled the ball back for Tevez, who swept it in from close range.
Five alive: Silva grabbed the fifth goal in the rout of poor Barnsley
Attack: Mancini picked a strong side, which saw Edin Dzeko partner Tevez up top
Sitting pretty: Mancini got the result he was hoping for
Poor Barnsley. Wins at Hull and MK Dons do not replicate the experience of a sustained onslaught from a billionaire super club. But as City slackened Barnsley became emboldened with Ryan Tunnicliffe, a Manchester United loanee, sprinting through for a strike on goal which Costel Pantilimon saved with an outstretched foot.
Silva, fed by Yaya Toure, produced his own sprint through the midfield, exchanged passes with Tevez and though Steele saved his first shot, the rebound fell kindly for the Spaniard to collect the fifth.
Tevez bowed out soon after and yesterday could not have felt more routine for City.
Safe to say, the subsequent ties in this competition are likely to be somewhat more tense.
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