Manchester City 6 West Ham 0: Do we need a second leg?

 Is there really any point in a second leg? Such was the emphatic manner of Manchester City’s win in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg here last night, they did not even need a second half.

Three goals up by the interval and coasting towards the final, Manuel Pellegrini’s side were every bit as dominant as West Ham had feared. The trip to Upton Park in  two weeks is nothing more than a  formality, as is their place at  Wembley on March 2.

Alvaro Negredo must take the plaudits for a well-taken hat-trick with his left foot but rarely can the Spaniard have had an easier night.
At times, West Ham’s defending was amateurish. City do not need any help scoring goals — especially at the Etihad where they now have 59 in 15 games this season — and there could have been far more  on a
night when they fired 32 shots at goal.

Edin Dzeko scored another two and the Bosnian had lost count  of City’s tally by the time he was interviewed afterwards, mistakenly thinking it was five.

MATCH STATS

MAN CITY: Pantilimon 6; Zabaleta 7, Kompany 6, Lescott 6, Clichy 7; Nasri 7, Toure 7 (Demichelis 66, 6), Garcia 6, Silva 7 (Lopes 73, 6); Negredo 8 (Kolarov 79), Dzeko 7.

Subs not used: Hart, Nastasic, Fernandinho, Milner.

Goals: Negredo 12, 26, 49, Toure 40, Dzeko 6, 89

Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 7

WEST HAM: Adrian 5; Demel 5, Johnson 4, McCartney 4, O'Brien 5 (Rat 75 5); Downing 5, Noble 5 (Diarra 57, 5), Taylor 6, Diame 5, Cole 4; Maiga 5 (C Cole 45 5)

Subs not used: Jarvis, Collison, Morrison, Jaasekelainen

Referee: Jonathan Moss 7

Manager: Sam Allardyce 5

Man of the match: Alvaro Negredo

Attendance: 38,000

‘That happens sometimes,’ said Pellegrini with a knowing smile after his Champions League  miscalculation in Munich last month. As it rained goals on a wet night in Manchester, Sam Allardyce stood under heavy skies while the West Ham fans called for his head.

In the stands, co-owner David  Sullivan, who gave his manager a vote of support this week, look equally unimpressed.

Allardyce was axed by Blackburn shortly after a 7-1 defeat across town at Manchester United in 2010, and on the sixth anniversary of his sacking by Newcastle he must have left fearing the chop again.