Manchester City will host ChampionshipReading in the quarter finals after disposing of Premiership rivals Aston Villa 3-0 at Eastlands. Villa boss Gerard Houllier left many of his first teamers on the bench and this was reflected in the scoreline as City eased to their win against a disappointing visitor's.
Yaya Toure gave the home side an early lead then Mario Balotelli doubled their advantage when he raced on to Toure's pass and blasted the ball past Brad Friedel.
Little changed in the second period although Villa did have a bright spell without really looking threatening and the fact they managed just two shots on target tells its own sorry story.
Man of the Match David Silva made sure there would be no unlikely comeback from the midlanders by firing home with 20 minutes remaining.
And so Roberto Mancini's team remain on course to end their 35-year spell without a trophy.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Venue: City of Manchester Stadium Attendance: 25,570
Man City scorers: Y Toure 5, Balotelli 25, Silva 70 Villa scorers:
MAN CITY 25 Hart 02 Richards (Boyata 83) 05 Zabaleta 13 Kolarov 17 Boateng 19 Lescott 18 Barry 21 Silva 24 Vieira 42 Y Toure (Jo 80) 45 Balotelli (yellow card) (Tevez 60)
Substitutes 12 Taylor, 38 Boyata, 06 Johnson, 10 Dzeko, 27 Jo, 32 Tevez, 57 Wabara
ASTON VILLA 01 Friedel 05 Dunne (Walker 83) 21 Clark (yellow card 13 Bradley (Young 71) 16 Delph 19 Petrov (yellow card) 25 Bannan 31 Herd 11 Agbonlahor (yellow card) 14 Delfouneso (Downing 71) 18 Heskey
Substitutes 33 Marshall, 36 Walker, 06 Downing, 07 Young, 08 Pires, 12 Albrighton, 20 Reo-Coker
