Pep Guardiola’s first taste of the FA Cup ended triumphantly as his Manchester City side thrashed Premier League rivals West Ham in the third round.
City led 3-0 at the break, Yaya Toure starting the rout by firing a debatable penalty into the bottom left corner.
Havard Nordtveit bundled Bacary Sagna’s teasing cross into his own net, just 146 seconds before David Silva’s composed tap-in.
Shortly after the restart, Sergio Aguero cheekily diverted in Toure’s shot to become the third-highest goalscorer in City’s history.
And John Stones headed in his first Blues goal as the visitors comfortably saw the game out in a rapidly emptying London Stadium.
Following Friday’s opening third-round tie, City are the first team in the pot for Monday’s draw, which is live on BBC Two and online at 19:00 GMT.
Guardiola has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks thanks to a combination of City’s faltering form and his tetchy interviews.
But his team responded with a devastating performance against the hapless Hammers.
West Ham could not cope with the pace, power and precision of the visitors.
Toure whipped in the spot-kick after Pablo Zabaleta fell over Angelo Ogbonna’s standing leg before Nordtveit and Silva ensured City scored three first-half goals for the first time under their Spanish manager.
The Blues were relentless as they condemned West Ham to their heaviest FA Cup home defeat.
Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach Guardiola has regularly been forced into defending his footballing philosophy in recent months but performances like this justify his perseverance.
“West Ham could not live with their passing, their movement, their one-touch football,” former England striker Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day.
Hammers manager Slaven Bilic claimed ahead of the game that City “were not that confident anymore” after Guardiola’s methods had been questioned following his team’s mixed form in the past couple of months.
But that, in part, was down to his team’s inability – or refusal – to put the away side under any serious pressure when they were in possession.
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The Hammers failed to press the visitors in their own half, allowing Toure – who had more touches and made more passes than anyone else in his 78 minutes on the pitch – to dictate from his holding midfield role.
However, it could all have been very different had Sofiane Feghouli not spurned a golden chance to pull the Hammers level at 1-1.
The Algeria winger – only playing after his red card against Manchester United was rescinded – sidefooted wide of a gaping goal just seconds after Toure’s penalty.
