Manchester City ease into FA Cup fifth round with victory at Durham | OneFootball

Manchester City have eased into the fifth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup after defeating Durham 4-0 at Maiden Castle this afternoon.

The trip to the North East provided The Cityzens with a potential banana skin, however, Gareth Taylor’s side put in a relentless display as they cruised into the next round.

Manchester City went straight at Durham from the first whistle and Jill Roord crashed an early effort off the crossbar. That was a warning for what was to come with the visitors breaking the deadlock with their next attack. A cross landed perfectly on Laura Coombs’ boot and she thumped her shot into the back of the net.

The Cityzens could have almost immediately gone 2-0 up but home keeper Naoisha McAloon pulled off two excellent saves in quick succession to deny Chloe Kelly and Coombs.

Midway through the first half, Manchester City were presented with another good opportunity. A long ball upfield found Khadija Shaw but she opted to pass rather than shoot, spurning the chance to score what looked like a certain goal.

The visitors deservedly doubled their lead seven minutes before half-time. Roord took aim in the box and she impressively picked out the top corner of the Durham net.

The one-way traffic continued early in the second half. Shaw fired high and wide after the ball fortunately bounced in her path before McAloon did well to push away a curling Kelly effort.

Manchester City got their third goal 20 minutes from time when Lauren Hemp found Roord with a chip and she lobbed McAloon. It was an audacious goal which highlighted the gulf in quality between the two sides.

Substitute Jess Park thought that she had got a fourth Manchester City goal but she was denied by the offside flag before the same player drilled an effort wide moments later.

The Cityzens were to end the game 4-0 winners. Substitute Mary Fowler created herself some space in the box before firing the ball low into the Durham net.

It was a dominant performance from Manchester City from the first whistle to the last and they can now look forward to tomorrow’s fifth round draw.