Manchester City totally outclassed a lethargic Chelsea to reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup at the Blues' expense. After the Blues' more than impressive victory over Manuel Pellegrini's side in the Premier League just twelve days ago, many Chelsea supporters may well have arrived at the Etihad hoping for more of the same from a side looking to bounce back from a disappointing draw against West Brom on Wednesday. But any hopes of a positive reaction were dashed when Stevan Jovetic converted a goal that City's early dominance warranted with just sixteen minutes played. That opening period, bossed by the hosts, set the tone for a disappointing display by José Mourinho's men. City looked the hungrier and fresher of the two sides - no surprise considering their midweek game against Sunderland was called off over safety concerns. With the added benefit of a much changed line-up and the extra few days rest that fixture postponement resulted in, the home side demonstrated the greater endeavour and were worthy winners - the result confirmed when Samir Nasri converted from close range on 67 minutes. David Silva was in an offside position in the build-up to the goal, but Chelsea's turgid performance did not deserve any less. True, Nasri's goal settled the game, but the result seemed obvious following such a sloppy, insipid start by a jaded-looking Chelsea side. Eden Hazard, of whom so much is expected every game - not least because of his wonderful hat-trick against Newcastle last weekend - was man-marked into anonymity, whilst the usually magnificent Willian was equally as quiet. Samuel Eto'o, normally so industrious up front, was on the periphery of proceedings to such an extent he was replaced by new signing Mohamed Salah at half-time. Chelsea were absolutely outclassed by their hosts, but that is of little surprise considering how poorly they played. What a difference a week or two makes - just two weeks after their magnificent win over City in the corresponding Premier League fixture, the Blues were dire, with midfield duo Ramires and John Mikel Obi particularly poor. Even Petr Cech, usually so confident, looked a shade of himself. With 14 minutes played, the first true effort of note was spilled by the Czech goalkeeper as Yaya Toure let fly. The Blues stood off, and with Jovetic quickest to react, the Montenegrin international clipped the bar as he looked to punish Cech's lethargy. With their stand-in skipper so sloppy, the tone was set for the Chelsea performance in general, and Jovetic's opening strike mere moments later was no more than the Blues' poor showing - and, of course, a sprightly start from their opponents - deserved. If the travelling contingent of 6,000 from West London had hoped that goal would lead to the players pulling their finger out, they could not have been more misplaced in their faith. Seemingly punch-drunk, the Blues were terrible with their passing and City's considerable pressing prevented their flair players from making anything close to an impression. So bad were Chelsea that they failed to register a shot on target, with Cesar Azpilicueta's ridiculous 30-yard strike (that sailed about twenty feet over the bar) embarrassingly stands as the best the Blues could conjure. By that time their sluggishness had already been punished by an exquisitely worked second for City, with Nasri - so often the bane of Chelsea - converting from Silva's pull-back. Silva was marginally offside, but frankly, based on their impressive performance, City deserved such a stroke of fortune. It might have been worse had the linesman been equally lenient as the game petered out, but this time the official deemed Joleon Lescott offside when he poked home following an excellent Petr Cech save. That save, and subsequent decision, at least kept a modicum of respectability to the scoreline, but the painful truth is that Chelsea were once again sub-par and must significantly up their game ahead of testing matches against Everton and Galatasaray on the immediate horizon.
