The only team in the country not to have lost a cup game this season found that Glanford Park was no cakewalk, but on a day when another of the elite fell by the wayside, City were good value.
Tricky ties like this were once the bane of the Blues. You don’t need to go back as far as Halifax to feel a sense of relief. Oldham in 2005, Forest last season ... the list is too long.
But even though he fielded only three of the stars who tackled United in the Carling Cup semi-final derby, Mancini showed he can manage the high-wire balancing selection act with the best.
Indeed, it was Arsene Wenger who miscalculated on the day, otherwise his beaten Arsenal side would be bound for the City of Manchester Stadium in next month’s fifth round rather than Stoke.
Impressive goals from Martin Petrov, Sylvinho and, finally, Robinho made sure that gallant Scunthorpe were never more than tasty filling between two hefty slices of the Carling Cup derby.
Scunthorpe do have a fighting quality about them, as they had showed during the feisty first half of their eventual 5-1 Carling Cup defeat at the City of Manchester Stadium back in October.
They once again had to contend with conceding an early goal, this time from that rejuvenated winger Petrov, who has flourished under Mancini after his perceived neglect earlier this season.
The Bulgarian, who kicked off Mancini’s reign by scoring against Stoke on Boxing Day, conjured a fabulous strike after Robinho’s series of stepovers momentarily mesmerised home defenders.
He hit it with such venom after cutting into the penalty area that goalkeeper Joe Murphy had no option but to watch it sizzle past him. Had he touched it, his gloves would have been singed
.
But again, just as they had in October, Nigel Adkins’ plucky Championship side not only recovered their composure but snapped up an equaliser to make a proper cup tie of the occasion.
Paul Hayes, celebrated in Scunny for scoring at Stamford Bridge, is an FA Cup warrior who helped Barnsley to the semi-finals, and his 29th-minute finish certainly matched Petrov’s for quality.
Television replays showed that the striker was offside when the ball fell for him to volley past former Arsenal keeper Stuart Taylor, making his City debut in his first FA Cup tie for seven years.
But Scunthorpe probably deserved their stroke of fortune, given that they were by no means inferior in a cut-and-thrust first half, and the Blues had to work harder than they’d have liked.
Nigel de Jong, always up for a scrap, hurled himself into the midfield dogfight with gusto while Somali-born Norwegian youngster Abdi Ibrahim acquitted himself well on his surprise debut.
But it was another of City’s bright young men who reclaimed the lead as Nedum Onuoha finished a right-flank raid by clipping Stevie Ireland’s astute lifted pass beyond Murphy before half time.
City were bound to miss de Jong, replaced at half time by second debutant Greg Cunningham, and the Irish left-back’s enthusiasm in the challenge cost him an unlucky booking inside two minutes.
But Cunningham’s appearance freed Sylvinho for a midfield role that allowed the former Barcelona veteran to seal victory with a marvellous 35-yarder that dipped and dazzled as it beat Murphy.
As well as being his first Blues goal since arriving last summer, it was the Brazilian’s first in English football for a decade, having last scored in Arsenal colours against Chelsea in 2000.
Soon after, a pinball flurry in Murphy’s six-yard box saw the keeper block successive efforts from Ibrahim, Robinho, and Robinho yet again, prompting the frustrated Brazil ace to shake hands.
Scunthorpe felt somewhat aggrieved, having seen Cliff Byrne hit the bar in the first half and Taylor pull off a super save from Sam Togwell in the second just before Sylvinho made it 3-1.
They made sure there was a tense finish when home skipper Byrne’s toe-poke effort from a long throw crept past Taylor off Dedryck Boyata’s deflection with 20 minutes still to play.
But City rode the home backlash before some smart passing crafted a fine, clinical fourth goal for Robinho, who scored his first since May before immediately making way for Craig Bellamy.
