Manchester City v Notts County LIVE
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81 min: Vieira's decision to stay on, probably because he wants his hat-trick (although should he be heading footballs in his state?), was particularly irritating for Gareth Barry, who had stripped off in readiness to be introduced. It wasn't a wasted strip though because he's just replaced Yaya Toure.
80 min: A change and a non-change: Lee Hughes goes off for Lewis Gobern and Vieira, with a Terry Butcher style bandage, comes back on.
78 min: Superb save from Joe Hart. A long free-kick was pumped into City's area again. It was headed out to Gow, who smashed a wonderful first-time volley towards the top-left corner. The technique was perfect and it was struck with pace and power, but it wasn't enough to beat Hart, who flew to his left to tip the ball over the bar. Gow takes the corner from the right and Hart, under pressure from Westcarr, punches away and Silva volleys clear. Hart's not looked confident at set-pieces.
76 min: Ouch! Now Vieira has taken a blow to the head, although it was accidental. Westcarr's touch was loose, which tempted Vieira into a fine sliding challenge. In an effort to avoid running into Vieira, Westcarr tried to hurdle him, but only succeeded in raking his head with his studs as he jumped over him. Blood is pouring from Vieira's head.
75 min: There's certainly a lot of encouragement for Notts County to take from this. There's been an urgency and vibrancy about their play, and their approach has been quite attractive at times. True, they are sometimes reliant on set-pieces, as you'd expect of a lower league sid! e, but t hey have some intelligent footballers.
74 min: "Yes, I would retain replays giving a chance for fans and players to go to Anfield or the DW Stadium," says Gary Naylor. "Then extra time and penalties - especially if Chelsea are involved." He's here all week. Heck, he'll be here every week.
72 min: Now Westcarr has a go from 30 yards out but it's always rising and Hart watches it go harmlessly over the bar.
71 min: Hawley has been very impressive and again he deserved more here. A loose ball fell to him in the area and despite being surrounded by three City defenders, he suddenly produced a moment of rare inspiration in an otherwise sluggish match, a superb, adroit spin and turn away from Toure, but having worked space for the shot, he didn't catch the ball cleanly with his left foot and could only drag the ball tamely at Hart from eight yards out.
70 min: Still, at least they've got Carlos Tevez. Yaya Toure slides a pass into Tevez's feet. He turns adroitly and then hits a low skimmer wide of the left post with the aid of a deflection. Kolarov takes the corner again, but this time County deal with it much more proficiently. It's all a bit late for that though.
69 min: So it's going to be a win for Manchester City, but they still have problems. Balotelli is clearly not happy with his lot, while Dzeko has been anonymous. It's never dull.
68 min: It's been a trying few minutes for County, but here's some respite, as Hughes goes chugging along up the left flank, eventually winning a corner off Yaya Toure. He takes it quick and short to Gow, who chips the ball to the back of the area to Edwards, whose ambitious volley is skewed wide of the left post.
66 min: Even with a head injury, Balotelli still won't stop complaining. Mancini was clearly taking precautionary measures by taking him off but Balotelli barely acknowledged his manager when he went off a! nd inste ad threw a strop as he walked down the tunnel. Maybe he's taken inspiration from Mike Summerbee's toy-chucking episode last week.
65 min: With the cushion Vieira's goal has afforded them, City are cruising, stroking the ball about effortlessly. County can't get a touch.
64 min: After more than an hour and with their side 2-0 up, City's fans decide now would be the best time to break into a rendition of Blue Moon.
63 min: The task now for Notts County is not to get embarrassed. They don't deserve that. In the fifth round at Craven Cottage, it's Fulham 0-1 Bolton after about 20 minutes, Ivan Klasnic with the goal.
61 min: After that clash of heads, Balotelli's up again thankfully, but perhaps wisely, his afternoon is over. He's replaced by Carlos Tevez. Notts County make a change too, John Thompson replacing Stephen Darby. After some treatment off the pitch too, Pearce returns too. Both he and Balotelli will be nursing sore heads tomorrow.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Notts County (Vieira 58 min): Game over. Another City corner, another Vieira header. Kolarov whipped in a great ball from the left and with the marking all over the place, Vieira got ahead of Bishop to plant a firm header past Nelson from 10 yards out. More worryingly though, the celebrations are cut shot as both Pearce and Balotelli collapse after the defender ran head-first into the Italian. It looks like Balotelli is out for the count; worrying scenes. Pearce is looking groggy too.
57 min: It just won't run for Balotelli. On the left, Kolarov slides the ball across to him on the edge of the area. In acres of space, however, Balotelli gets the ball stuck under his feet and Harley tackles him with aplomb.
56 min: Notts County are still attacking with plenty of intent. Harley clips pass down the left for Hawley. He tries to beat Richards, cutting inside on to his right foot and then back! on to h is left, but the right-back, duped for a mere second, recovers well to take the sting out of the cross, which runs through to Hart.
54 min: Yaya Toure leads a City break forward but gets his attempted pass to Dzeko all wrong. With more accuracy, Dzeko would have been clean through on the left. The Bosnian does well to retrieve the situation though, reaching the pass before it goes out on the left, before cutting inside and crossing towards Toure, who's beaten to it by Edwards.
52 min: Hawley is booked for a late tackle on Richards on the right. It wasn't the worst foul anyone's ever made, but once he knew he'd been beaten to the loose ball, there was no way he was letting Richards past him. Cynical.
51 min: This half hasn't really come to life yet. It's scrappy and disjointed and not much is going on.
49 min: Watch out for Balotelli in this half. He's already on a booking, has been denied a penalty and is ... well, he's teetering. Hawley crunched into him on the right touchline just now and Balotelli wasn't best pleased, indulging in a slow-mo roll off the pitch, before having a wee lie-down as it to compose himself. A terrific talent, Balotelli, but he's always on the verge of self-destructing. It's a real shame, but he's still young. Maybe he'll learn. The ball breaks clear and Yaya Toure then brings down Hawley, but the resulting free-kick into City's area is too long.
47 min: Some of the shooting from both sides has been dire today. Hawley, who actually had the best effort so far when he hit the post, miscues a 25-yarder which swerves well wide of Hart's left post.
46 min: Notts County get us going again. Can they do it? I wouldn't bet against it. Then again, I never bet. Not after the incident. Immediately City go on the attack up the left, and Kolarov cuts on to his weaker right foot, before hitting a shoot from 25 yards out that demonstrates why I call ! it his w eaker right foot. "So - seeding in the FA Cup then Jacob?" asks Gary Naylor. "I like the idea, especially if Premier League teams must play away in the third and fourth rounds. We would have more 'proper' ties, more shocks and more fun. Those who say that the FA Cup shouldn't be changed are ignoring how external elements are changing the Cup anyway. Time for The Cup to seize the initiative for once." Would you have replays though? For a lot of small clubs, the chance to play against Bebe and Gabriel Obertan at Old Trafford is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Half-time entertainment. Eat your vegetables, kids. Or else.
Peep! Peep! After some late pressure from County leads to nothing, the half-time whistle blows. City lead, but they've been far from convincing.
45 min +1: Balotelli cuts in from the left and then larrumps the ball high and wide. Oh dear. He appears to be on the verge of self-combusting. Moments later, Hawley emulates him.
45 min: Agonising. Gow's free-kick from the right is glanced on by Pearce, and the ball nearly breaks for Hughes in front of goal but he couldn't react quickly enough to poke the ball home and Hart smothers the danger.
44 min: Surprise: Balotelli is booked. City could have had much more than the two they've amassed already, such has been the crude nature of some of their tackles. Again it was a foul on Gow; again it was needless. Kolarov looks at Balotelli with a puzzled expression on his face. He's not alone.
42 min: "Dzeko is playing so well he could fit seamlessly into the Man Utd team that played Crawley," says Mark Judd. Hmmm, he's not been great. He should have scored earlier and just now he was released on the left by Yaya Toure. With a number of options waiting in the area, his low centre wasn't accurate enough and the covering Edwards dealt well with the danger.
41 min: As if to prove the point, Zabaleta crunches int! o Darby on the right flank and is booked for his troubles. A chance for County then, but for once Gow's delivery is too high and this time Hart takes a confident catch.
40 min: On the balance of play, at least for the last 10 minutes or so, City deserve that, but County are very much in this game.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Notts County (Vieira, 37 min) Well it's been coming, but it's such a soft goal for Notts County to concede. City had really been turning the screw and had just appealed for a penalty. Kolarov had crossed from the left and Nelson's poor punch fell to Silva on the right. He cracked a volley goalwards, and it was deflected behind off Harley's back, Silva appealing for handball. His complaints waved away by the referee, he trudged across to take the corner and his left-footer towards the near post found Vieira, who had got a run on Ravenhill. He flicked a header towards goal and it came off Pearce's hand, which was enough to confound Nelson who let the ball squirm past him.
35 min: What a save from Nelson! Balotelli and Silva combine well on the right, the Italian setting the ever-dangerous Spaniard away into the area. He darts through and prods the ball across to Yaya Toure, whose stabbed effort takes a deflection and Nelson reacts superbly to get down and tip the ball past the left post.
33 min: It doesn't look like Westcarr, for all his indignant fury directed at Balotelli, got much of the ball at all, and even if he did, there was no chance he could have done so without committing a foul. So really he would do well to show a little more contrition.
30 min: It's County's turn to creak. Vieira lofts a pass down the inside-left channel for Balotelli to run on to. Clear on goal, the ball wouldn't quite sit up enough for him to strike past Nelson, allowing Westcarr to get back and challenge him. Balotelli goes down looking for a penalty and he certainly had a case. Jim Beglin calls it ! a coming together, but it looked more like a foul to me, Westcarr getting both man and ball. Naturally Balotelli is in a funk. Kolarov takes the corner again, and once more City fluff their lines in front of goal, Richards mis-timing his jump and wafting a header over the bar.
28 min: Suddenly City are starting to look dangerous and from a free-kick out on the right, Kolarov's ball in is nearly touched past Nelson by Balotelli. Luckily for County, whose defence was nowhere to be seen, the ball was just too far ahead of the striker.
26 min: County hitting the post appears to have sparked City into life. Zabaleta tees the ball up for Kolarov on the edge of the area and his curled left-footer is spilled by Nelson, diving to his right. Luckily for him the ball squirts too far wide for any City player to put the ball into the net, and eventually Zabaleta's attempted cross is deflected behind for a corner. Kolarov whips the corner in and Dzeko darts to the near post, but is only able to flick his header across the area, when again he might have done better.
23 min: And now they do. A long pass catches out Harley, who lets it drift over his head. Richards collected possession before the ball ran out for a throw-in, turned and sent in a lovely cross that found Dzeko all alone six yards from goal. Time seemed to freeze as Dzeko set himself, rose and then crashed a firm header goalwards - but straight down the throat of Nelson, who reacts instinctively to turn the ball over the bar. That's a bad miss. Either side of Nelson and Dzeko would have scored, and it really should have been put either side of him.
21 min: Notts County hit the post but they deserved so much more; not just for this isolated moment but also for the way they have taken the game to a ludicrously poor City side. It was a superb effort too, Hawley cutting in from the left touchline, dropping the shoulder and then curling a wonderful right-footer on to the! inside of the right post with Hart beaten all ends up! City need to wake up sharpish.
19 min: This has been absolute filth from City so far. Gow crosses from the left and with Hughes lurking in the middle, Lescott's important header quells the danger. The ball breaks for Kolarov on the left, and he tries to set City on the counterattack, charging at medium pace up the left. He does a fairly pointless backheel inside and then hits a raking crossfield pace all the way to, er, Harley. Harley chests the ball up to Gow, who's unceremoniously fouled by the lumbering Kolo Toure, the 457th free-kick City have conceded so far. With everyone expecting a cross, Harley catches City out with a super pass down the inside-left channel to Gow, who's fortunately offside.
17 min: The impressive Gow lopes - he doesn't appear capable of breaking into an actual sprint - inside from the right, making a fool of Yaya Toure with a gorgeous touch through the Ivorian's legs. Suddenly he's faced by a backtracking City defence, but as he looks for options, Hughes mis-times his run and ends up darting into an offside position, enough to cause Gow to dither. Eventually a clutch of City players crowd him out and the chance is gone.
15 min: Dzeko sets Zabaleta haring down the left flank. Isn't that Kolarov's job? Anyway Zabaleta reaches the Bosnian's clever pass ahead of Darby, but the right-back does enough to put the City left-back off and cause him to mishit his cross, the ball landing on the top of Nelson's net. The goalkeeper made a show of going for the ball, but he was never in any serious trouble.
14 min: County probably need to make their early dominance count; with Balotelli, Silva and Dzeko on the pitch, City's lethargy surely can't last for long. That said, they're giving the ball away for fun at the moment, Yaya Toure the latest offenders. City have been dreadful.
11 min: Earth to City! "Balotelli has a skidm! ark on h is head," observes Daniel Harris.
10 min: City are a complete rabble. The free-kick is hoofed forward from the back. Lescott nudges into Gow and nothing is given, so Kolo Toure bumps into Hughes just to make sure a free-kick is awarded which puts his side under even more pressure. From a tempting position on the right and around 25 yards from goal, Gow whips a fine left-footed curler over the wall and forces a low, sprawling save from Hart down at his right post. The corner is taken by Gow and the unmarked Bishop heads it down at the far post, but Balotelli hoofs clear in the six-yard box.
9 min: Dzeko turns and slips a pass up the left flank for Kolarov to chase. Looking along the Notts County defensive line, he's still contrived to get himself offside. Anyone would think he's a left-back!
8 min: City are all over the place at the moment. Balotelli, who's yet to touch it, clips Ravenhill in the middle of City's half, conceding a free-kick. Ravenhill made the most of it to be fair, but Westcarr's set-piece is over-hit and drifts out for a throw-in to City on the right.
6 min: County continue to probe and City continue to mess about. Kolo Toure's casual pass to Vieira out from the back is pounced upon, but with options left and right, Lee Hughes decides to go for goal, and only manages a weak shot straight at Hart from 25 yards out. "Does it really matter how many milliions of pounds you spend if you select Lescott, Richards, and Zabaleta (not to mention France Over-65 international Viera) and leave Tevez, Kompany, and Boateng on the bench?" points out Lou Roper.
5 min: The comical Kolarov lets a tame pass from Zabaleta run past him and out for a throw-in on the left. He only cost 18m.
4 min: City have started very poorly. Silva sprays a pass out to Kolarov on the left. Kolarov heads it to no one. The loose ball eventually comes to Vieira who lobs a pass effortlessly ov! er Richa rds' head and out for a throw-in.
2 min: A bright, confident start from the visitors. Vieira clumsily conceded a free-kick 40 yards from goal, which Harley lumped into the area. Hart came for it but, as has been the way for a goalkeeper who's been very dodgy recently, could only flap haplessly at it. The ball came to Bishop on the right side of the area but his driven centre was blocked behind by Vieira. Gow took the corner and again Hart was all over the place as Pearce headed just over from close range! He really should have scored but a hugely encouraging opening for the underdogs.
1 min: After a bastardised rock version of Blue Moon - what are the marketing goons doing to football? - we're off, City kicking off, and attacking from right to left. Notts County, all in yellow, are being backed by 4,500 fans, which is half what Crawley managed yesterday. Presumably every one of those 9,000 Crawley fans will be at their next game against Southport. County's fans are creating a rare old atmosphere in an otherwise lukewarm City of Manchester Stadium.
No, no, here they are. It seems they were just getting ready so Adrian Chiles really shouldn't have got so excited about that.
Cunning mind-games with Paul Ince. Manchester City are in the tunnel but there's no sign of Notts County!
So can Notts County succeed where Brighton, Crawley Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea have all failed this weekend and cause an upset? Chances aren't great; they probably missed their opportunity to knock out Manchester City at Meadow Lane, when Edin Dzeko's late equaliser forced this replay. Although Paul Ince's side have already won at Sunderland in the third round, it would take a severe bout of Cityitis for them to prosper this afternoon. Not that that should be ruled out of course. You never know when it might strike, but Roberto Mancini appears to have f! ound the cure. The cure being millions upon millions of pounds NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. What is wrong, however, is Gung-ho Bobby spending all that money and then putting a left-back in midfield. Against Notts County. League One's Notts County. At home. You can never be too careful, I suppose.
Jon (never John, he's a bit funny about that) is playing for Notts County. He's Wayne Bridge-lite. He did once score a superb goal though. Ah, but it's not that one.
We need to talk about Edin. He could do with scoring a few, couldn't he? Much like Fernando Torres at Chelsea, it's not entirely clear where he fits in at City. Clearly he has plenty of talent and will take time to settle in, but can he play with Carlos Tevez? Tevez is playing so well as City's focal point at the moment, and it would take a shift of formation to fit both strikers into the line-up.
"A Guardian spoof," says ITV's Adrian Chiles, referring to our coverage this picture. As Father Jack might have put it, Aris!
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Richards, Toure, Lescott, Zabaleta; Yaya Toure, Vieira; Silva, Balotelli, Kolarov; Dzeko, Wally from Where's Wally?. Subs: Taylor, Kompany, Boateng, Barry, Jo, Tevez, Nimely.
Notts County (4-4-2): Nelson; Darby, Edwards, Pearce, Harley; Hawley, Ravenhill, Bishop, Westcarr; Gow, Hughes. Subs: Burch, Lee, Thompson, Smith, Chilvers, Gobern, Spicer.
Referee: Mike Jones.
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