Man City blank Burnley 5-0 in FA Cup

LONDON (AP):

It’s certainly a long shot but, on current form, it’s hard to see how or when they’ll next be beaten.

City swept past fellow English Premier League team Burnley 5-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, extending their run of wins to eight in all competitions. In that streak, the team has 33 goals and has not conceded a goal in the last six games – a first under Guardiola.

Kevin De Bruyne scored one goal – a powerful strike from the edge of the box – and had a hand in two others, with Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, and Sergio Aguero scoring along with an own-goal.

City are second in the Premier League, four points behind Liverpool, and into the final of the English League Cup against Chelsea on February 24. They are also through to the last 16 of the Champions League and were handed a favourable match against German outsiders Schalke.

Guardiola is managing to rotate his squad for games in this fixture pile-up without his starting team losing any of its fluidity. City’s bench against Burnley, for example, contained Aguero, David Silva, Raheem Sterling, and Leroy Sane. The latter two weren’t even needed as City made it 108 goals in 36 games for the season, an average of exactly three per match.

“Everyone has been involved this month. Everybody plays,” Guardiola said. “All together, we can achieve it, arriving at the latter stages (of the season) in the right moment. It’s the only way I understand when you are in four competitions.”

EVERTON ELIMINATED

Everton manager Marco Silva is another coach who treats the FA Cup with respect. He fielded his strongest possible side against second-tier Millwall but still left The Den with a loss.

By losing 3-2 after conceding a 94th-minute goal, Everton became the sixth Premier League side to lose to lower-league opposition – after Fulham, Leicester, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Southampton.

Other results: Shrewsbury 2 Wolverhampton 2; Newcastle 0 Watford 2; Brighton 0 West Brom 0; Swansea 4 Gillingham 1.