Europa League: Manchester City 4 Porto 0 (agg 6-1)

22 Februar 2012 20:45

Manchester City are into the last 16 of the Europa League after posting a 4-0 win over Porto at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Manchester City are into the last 16 of the Europa League after posting a 4-0 win over Porto at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

The second-leg victory handed Roberto Mancini's side a 6-1 aggregate win over last season's Europa League champions, and they will next play either Legia Warsaw or Sporting Lisbon for a place in the quarter-finals.

The home side took the lead after just 19 seconds through Sergio Aguero and the Argentine set up Edin Dzeko in the 76th minute to secure the win. David Silva and David Pizarro netted late on to give the tie a one-sided look.

Mancini had discussed Porto's attacking threat before the game but saw his side make the perfect start to the match.

Yaya Toure pounced on Nicolas Otamendi's slack pass to put Aguero through on goal and he slotted home past Porto goalkeeper Helton to score his 20th goal of a highly impressive debut season for City.

The home side almost extended their lead soon after as a clever Silva pass sent Toure through, only for the Ivorian to see his effort saved.

Joao Moutinho hit a free kick over for Porto before Aguero missed a great chance to put City 2-0 up. He rounded Helton and chipped a shot over Alex Sandro on the line, but the ball clipped the crossbar.

Porto were restricted to long-range efforts: Lucho Gonzalez hit a speculative shot over before a Hulk free kick was deflected wide.

From the resulting corner Maicon headed down to Otamendi but the defender could only volley over from eight yards. It turned out to be the Portuguese side's last chance of the half as the sides went in at the break with City in control of the tie.

Needing three goals without reply, Porto came out for the second half with purpose. Gonzalez found space after a quick free kick and fired an effort wide with Joe Hart scrambling to his right.

The holders finally had the ball in the net just before the hour mark, but James Rodriguez's close-range goal was chalked off due to Hulk's involvement from an offside position.

Mancini looked to stem the tide of Porto pressure, sending on James Milner in place of Gareth Barry in the City midfield.

Toure picked up a booking mid-way through the second period for clumsy challenge on Fernando, meaning he will now miss City's next Europa League game after picking up three yellow cards in Europe this season.

With the game meandering to little more than a training match, Dzeko replaced Samir Nasri and immediately added a second to dash any Porto hopes.

Aguero combined with Silva on the left flank and drove inside before playing a perfectly weighted ball for Dzeko to finish.

In the aftermath, Porto's Rolando was shown a second yellow card and sent off for protesting that the Bosnian had been offside.

Silva tapped in a third in the 84th minute before late substitute Pizarro smashed home a loose ball to score his first goal for the club since joining from Roma on loan.