CAPITAL ONE CUP WILF SETS
MAN CITY ..4 HULL ......... 1
WILFRIED BONY proved there can be life without Sergio Aguero at the Etihad.
Bony got Manchester City off the mark last night before late goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and Kevin De Bruyne, with two, sealed a semi-final berth.
Bony has struggled to fit in since joining City from Swansea in a £28m deal almost 12 months ago.
But injury problems for hot-shot Aguero have given the Ivory Coast striker a chance to prove himself and he took another step towards doing just that last night.
Bony fired City ahead as Manuel Pellegrini’s men looked to see off the challenge of the Championship Tigers.
It might have been a bit of a gift, but Bony has now scored five goals in his last eight starts having had to wait until the middle of October to break his duck.
He will never have the same aura as Aguero, of course, but Bony’s strike was crucial as the Premier League side struggled to break down Steve Bruce’s stubborn underdogs.
Bruce made seven changes that meant Tom Huddlestone, Mohamed Diame and Shaun Maloney started on the bench.
It suggested Bruce was more concerned with beating Leeds this weekend to maintain his side’s push for promotion back to the Premier League.
Pellegrini, on the other hand, was in no mood to mess about as he looked to take another step closer to a return to Wembley.
He was without injured trio Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and Aguero but still managed to name a team packed with proven internationals.
This tale of two cities saw Pellegrini send out a starting team that cost a staggering £220m more than the visitors.
The difference was so stark that Hull’s entire line-up cost just £8m – the same as City paid Aston Villa for Fabian Delph last summer.
The gulf in class was evident from the off, with City pinning Bruce’s men deep inside their own half and dominating possession.
The hosts threatened inside five minutes, when Fernandinho’s superb pass sent De Bruyne racing clear and Eldin Jakupovic had to charge from his goal to clear the danger.
City were ahead just seven minutes later and the Tigers only had themselves to blame. For some bizarre reason, Ryan