Aston Villa vs Manchester City match report: Kelechi Iheanacho hits hat-trick as to keep quadruple dream alive

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 4

Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates opening the scoring (Getty Images)

Those Aston Villa fans who imagined a way through to the fifth round after Sergio Aguero and Wilfried Bony were left off the Manchester City team-sheet were undone by a 19-year-old from the Nigerian oilfields. Kelechi Iheanacho scored three goals and laid on another.

The goals as good as finished Villa’s season. They are obviously not up to staying in the Premier League, so the FA Cup offered a last chance to fail with what Danny Blanchflower called “an echo of glory”. A goal down after four minutes, Villa were never capable of taking it.

Since he was leading scorer in the Under-17 World Cup three years ago, Iheanacho has been earmarked for greatness and this season he has begun to demonstrate that.

Raheem Sterling and Leandro Bacuna square up (Getty Images)

“I see him working every day so I know what he can do,” said his manager, Manuel Pellegrini. “I was criticised for not replacing Stevan Jovetic or Edin Dzeko. That was because we had Kelechi.”

Pellegrini said with a smile that Iheanacho would probably make City’s Champions League squad next month. He will, however, find goals then harder to come by than yesterday. From the moment they gave away what their manager, Rémi Garde, admitted was a “stupid” corner, Villa’s defending was inept.

Inflatable plastic snakes were doing a brisk trade outside Villa Park to wave at Fabian Delph, whose yes-no-yes response to an offer to join City in the summer had bred resentment in the Midlands.

They were being waved as Delph took the corner that was met by Fernando’s header that Jordan Veretout cleared off the line, only for Iheanacho to bundle in the rebound.

Iheanacho’s seventh goal of the season followed Villa right-back Leandro Bacuna pushing Raheem Sterling as the pair raced for Jesus Navas’s pull-back. “A generous penalty” was how Garde described it, although Iheanacho converted it with a cool maturity, stopping to allow Brad Guzan to commit himself.

Bacuna was lucky to stay on the pitch when, after he and Sterling were both booked for a confrontation following the goal, Bacuna fouled Sterling once more.

Iheanacho’s hat-trick arrived courtesy of a jaw-dropping back-pass from the City half by Idrissa Gana. He found only Iheanacho, who ran through and coolly beat Guzan again.

Moments later, Guzan blocked a fierce shot from Fernandinho that Iheanacho met with an overhead kick. Sterling did the rest.

Aston Villa: (4-3-2-1) Guzan; Bacuna, Richards, Clark, Cissokho; Veretout, Gana, Westwood (Okore, h-t); Gil (Grealish, 80), Ayew; Sinclair (Agbonlahor, 66).

Manchester City: (4-5-1) Caballero; Zabaleta, Sagna (Tasende, 80), Otamendi (Humphreys, 88), Clichy; Navas, Delph, Fernando, Fernandinho (Celina, 78), Sterling; Iheanacho.

Referee: Michael Jones.

Man of the match: Iheanacho (Manchester City)

Match rating: 5/10