It was a clinical performance from Pep Guardiola’s men from first minute to last.
Goals from Riyad Mahrez (2), Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden ensured safe passage forward in the competition.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at some of the key statistics that arose from the game.
200 UP
Riyad Mahrez was the man of the match in the 4-0 win over Chelsea – and his figures across his time at both City and Leicester make for amazing reading.
Following his brace against Chelsea, Mahrez has now been directly involved in 200 goals for City and Leicester.
At City, he’s made 211 appearances, scored 71 goals and provided 45 assists.
At Leicester, he made 179 appearances, scored 48 goals and provided 36 assists.
Impressive numbers!
Mahrez also became the first player to score in three separate games against Chelsea in a single season in all competitions since Javier Hernandez for Man Utd in 2012/13.
HIGH FIVE
Phil Foden is still a young man – but his numbers showcase just how long he’s actually been on the first team scene at City.
After his goal against Chelsea in the FA Cup Third Round win – and what a goal it was, by the way! – he became the only player to have scored in each of the last five FA Cup campaigns.
In 2021/22, he scored in the 4-1 quarter-final away victory over Southampton while in 2020/21, he was on target in a 3-0 home victory over Birmingham and a 3-1 win at Cheltenham.
In 2019/20, he scored in a 4-1 home win over Port Vale while in 2018/19, he was on target in a 7-0 home victory over Rotherham and bagged two in a 4-0 away win at Newport.
ALVAREZ IMPACT
It goes without saying that Julian Alvarez is in a rich vein of form – and the numbers back that up.
He was a vital cog in the wheel for Argentina as they lifted the World Cup for the third time this winter.
And, after a brief cameo in the 1-1 draw against Everton and an unused sub appearance in the 1-0 win at Chelsea, the young forward started in the FA Cup win over the Blues.
He bagged the second in our 4-0 win – a clinical penalty.
That means he’s been directly involved in 11 goals across his last 10 starts for City and Argentina.
That equates to nine goals and two assists.
No wonder Pep is a big fan of the smiling striker.
SET-PIECE STAR
Riyad Mahrez was a magician from set-pieces in the win over Chelsea – but his brilliance with a dead ball extends beyond the FA Cup Third Round.
In fact, only James Ward-Prowse (13) and James Maddison (7) have scored more direct free-kick goals for Premier League teams than Mahrez (6), since the start of the 2019/20 season.
LUCKY NUMBER 17
City produced an amazing 17 passes in our brilliant third goal against Chelsea.
Phil Foden fired home to make it 3-0 just before half-time and had the Etihad faithful salivating about the build-up.
Every member of the team, bar Julian Alvarez, touched the ball in a fast-paced move across the pitch.
The passage of play went Walker – Bernardo – Rodri – Bernardo – Laporte – Ortega Moreno – Akanji – Bernardo – Akanji – Walker – Gomez – Rodri – Gomez – Palmer – Rodri – Mahrez – Walker – Foden.
As former England midfielder Jermaine Jenas said on the BBC Sport Live page after the goal: “Immaculate. Top level stuff that we are seeing from City.”
RELIABLE LAPORTE
Aymeric Laporte went about his business with a quiet assurance in the victory over Chelsea.
Laporte had been with Spain at the World Cup, exiting to Morocco at the Round of 16 stage.
He then went on to play for City in the Carabao Cup win over Liverpool before returning to the side for Sunday’s Blues FA Cup clash.
And his influence, when looking at the stats, was there to see.
He topped the ‘Total Passes’ category, with 108 – and, with those, he had a 96% pass completion rate, second only behind Rodri who had 98%.
Laporte was top of ‘Total Touches’ with 117 – 27 ahead of second place Manuel Akanji.
He was also No.1 for ‘Tackles Won’ with four throughout the 90 minutes.
QUALITY ACROSS THE BOARD
So much emphasis goes on the first team in the world of football but here at City, we’re laser focused on our sides across the age ranges.
And, the scores this weekend made for wonderful viewing as three of our sides competed on home soil.
We won 13-0 across the seniors, EDS and academy teams – and that’s with our women’s team not playing due to their winter break.
As well as City 4-0 Chelsea, our EDS defeated Arsenal 6-0 and our academy beat Newcastle 3-0.
The present and future appears to be bright!
