City outfox brave Leicester

SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON failed to inflict an FA Cup sucker punch on Manchester City as his former club booked a fourth-round trip to Notts County.

Eriksson’s Leicester outfit battled gamely, levelling an early opener from Carlos Tevez through Paul Gallagher’s penalty and then halving the deficit through Lloyd Dyer after the hosts had scored twice in 77 seconds through Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson.

However, four days after offering Wolves a similar lifeline on the same ground, City quickly snatched it away, Aleksandar Kolarov lashing home a fourth in the final minute.

Roberto Mancini was satisfied with the win but admitted his team need to defend better, having conceded three at home to Wolves on Saturday.

“It is always difficult in the FA Cup,” he said. “Leicester played very well in the first 20 minutes but after we played better and scored the three goals.

“But again in the last 15 minutes, like against Wolves, we thought that it was finished and we conceded another one.”

Describing his defence right now as “so-so”, he added: “We must improve. We have conceded a lot of goals in the last three games, so we must be sure to work hard.”

It was a fitting tribute to Neil Young — the terminally ill member of the side that triumphed at Wembley in 1969, for whom the City players posed for the pre-match photograph wearing distinctive red and black striped kits.

City’s latest attempt to emulate that team got off to a stuttering start 10 days ago and for half an hour they were no more convincing at the second attempt, despite boasting the most expensive starting line-up in FA Cup history.

The £162million (€193m) team included hefty fees for Yaya Toure, David Silva and Tevez, who remains Roberto Mancini’s talisman.

It was hardly a surprise Tevez put City ahead. Turning sharply past Yuki Abe as he collected a throw from fellow Argentinian Pablo Zabaleta, Tevez then ran straight at Jack Hobbs.

A fortunate bounce off the former Liverpool man allowed Tevez to continue his charge towards the box and, with one swipe of the right boot, he lashed a shot into the far corner.

City were not in front for long though as Lloyd Dyer burst between Joleon Lescott and Vieira, falling over the latter man’s leg, which had been inconveniently dangled out.

Gallagher’s approach was unconventional, keeping his back to goal for as long as possible. His finish was effective though as Joe Hart went the wrong way.

For a while, City wobbled and Eriksson could dream of causing a cup shock against the club he left so abruptly, dumped by discredited former owner Thaksin Shinawatra in May 2008.

But this Blues outfit are not as fallible as Eriksson’s were — nor any other City manager’s in recent memory.

And in the space of 77 seconds towards the end of the opening period, the Premier League title chasers took control.

This time, Tevez was the creator, lifting a superb pass beyond the Leicester defence to Zabaleta.

Silva met the South American’s cut-back and, though Souleymane Bamba blocked on the line, the ball screwed across the six-yard box to Vieira, who tapped into an empty net.

Then Silva spotted Johnson’s defence-splitting run and slipped a precise pass to the England midfielder that left him with only Chris Weale to beat.

Having blown one such opportunity when the tie was still goalless, Johnson was in no mood to let Leicester escape a second time and finished with clinical efficiency.

Unsurprisingly, City adopted a more conservative approach to their attacking after the break, content to use the pace of Johnson and Tevez to keep the Leicester defence on their toes.

Any lingering hopes for the visitors should have been snuffed out when Tevez went down as he cut inside Hobbs.

As the defender was the last man, it warranted a red card. Mancini certainly thought so, waving his arm to that effect.

But referee Mark Halsey decided otherwise — a decision that became more significant when Tevez blasted the spot-kick straight at Weale’s legs.

Mancini was presumably thinking about it even more when an accidental intervention from the referee offered Abi a second opportunity to play a pass beyond the City defence, which Dyer profited from after shrugging off Vincent Kompany.

But Kolarov strode forward to end any doubt and set up a visit to Paul Ince’s League One outfit, who dumped Sunderland out 10 days ago.

MAN CITY: Hart, Zabaleta, Lescott, Kompany, Kolarov, Toure Yaya (Jo 78), Vieira, Milner, Adam Johnson, Tevez, Silva (Barry 64).

LEICESTER: Weale, Naughton, Hobbs, Bamba, Berner, Gallagher (Moussa 30), Wellens (Oakley 46), Abe, Andy King, Dyer, Howard (Waghorn 68).

Referee: Mark Halsey.