Analysis of Manchester City 3 Villa 0

For Villa's travelling supporters there was a sense of deja vu - was this Moscow or Manchester?

Gerard Houllier's team selection for this FA Cup fifth-round tie certainly sparked comparisons with Martin O'Neill's much-maligned UEFA Cup trip to the Russian capital in February 2009, which began the decline of his relationship with the claret and blue faithful.

Houllier's predecessor controversially opted to leave eight first-team players behind, rather than play them in the first leg of a last-32 tie against CSKA Moscow.

O'Neill was criticised by fans who had made the trip and the club laid on a slap-up meal at Villa Park as way of an apology to those who had travelled over a thousand miles to watch the reserves.

But all the free grub in the world could not remove the sour taste which was left in the mouth by the Moscow debacle which was never forgiven, or forgotten, by either side.

This team was not quite as weak as that one but Kyle Walker, Marc Albrighton, Stewart Downing, Nigel Reo-Coker and Ashley Young were all left on the bench as Houllier made eight changes from the side which strolled to a 4-1 win over Blackburn.

Houllier's aim before the game was to exorcise the demons of "the lowest point" of his managerial career which had been Villa's 4-0 loss to City in December, but the only exercising done was the run-out given to squad's fringe players.

The result was an emphatic three-goal defeat to a Manchester City side who barely needed to get out of second gear to secure a winnable home quarter-final tie against Championship side Reading.

What was most frustrating, though, was just when Houllier, the players and the club are starting to win over the doubters among the media and the fans, the self-destruct button was pressed.

Surely experienced backroom staff like Gary McAllister and Gordan Cowans could see that Houllier's team selection was a PR disaster waiting to happen?

Admittedly, the timing of it has not helped. With Birmingham's win in the Carling Cup still fresh in the memory it was perhaps even more important that Villa gave a good account of themselves against City.

When asked to explain the reasons behind the selection in a pre-match interview Houllier insisted the competition was a "priority."

The Villa boss then countered accusations about the result afterwards by insisting he picked a team packed with internationals.

But, with all due respect, it does not take a genius to work out that if those left on the bench were included in the starting line-up it would have been a significantly stronger side.

Reo-Coker, Downing, Young, Albrighton and Walker have without doubt been Villa's form players and been significant factors in the club's recent upturn in fortunes on the pitch.

I am convinced that if you asked each and every one of those players would they rather have started last night, or been on the bench, then the answer would be on the pitch.

The only logical explanation is that Houllier felt it would have been a blow to the morale of a full strength side if they were on the end of another drubbing at the hands of City.

As well as protecting the players physically for the challenges that lie ahead, he was protecting them mentally as well. But even that logic comes with a risk.

Those that were on the bench last night will now feel extra pressure to perform against Bolton before a ball has even been kicked at the Reebok Stadium.

Besides, there is no shame in losing to a side of City's quality at full strength and given the carrot of a Championship side in the quarter-final surely it was worth a go?

It is not as if Villa have had a particularly gruelling schedule recently, having had a fortnight off, and what turned out to be a relatively straight-forward home game against Blackburn.

As expected City dominated from the start of the match and took the lead in the fifth minute through Yaya Toure.

Aleksandar Kolarov delivered an outswinging corner from the left which was flicked on by Patrick Vieira, who out-jumped Chris Herd, and deflected off the arm of Ciaran Clark into the path of Toure.

The midfielder made no mistake from inside the six-yard box, swivelling and smashing the ball past goalkeeper Brad Friedel from less than a yard out.

Roberto Mancini's side were in complete control of the game and doubled their advantage in the 25th minute with a well-worked goal on the counter attack.

Herd, who was making his first start, misplaced a pass to Nathan Delfouneso and Vieira found Toure, who played a lofted ball over the Villa defence for Mario Balotelli to chase. The ball sat up kindly for the Italian striker who calmly volleyed the ball past Friedel and into the net.

Villa's best chance of scoring fell to Emile Heskey who went close in the 30th minute.

Heskey picked up the ball on the left flank and cut back inside before he curled a low shot to Hart's left, which the goalkeeper pushed past the post.

However, David Silva effectively made the tie safe when he added a third in the 70th minute with the pick of the goals.

Pablo Zabaleta's cross from the right was cleared by the luckless Herd straight to the feet of Silva who struck a powerful angled shot from outside the box into the corner of the net.

Downing and Young did eventually get on with 20 minutes left but, with City 3-0 up, their introduction felt largely pointless by that stage.

Maybe this result will be quickly forgotten with a win up at Bolton when Villa return to Premier League action on Saturday because, without doubt, Houllier is changing things at the club for the better.

And hopefully the majority of Villa fans will be able to see the bigger picture and forgive Houllier because, as O'Neill found, once you overstep that mark it is difficult to come back.

By Timothy Abraham