The Sport Matrix: Thursday 16 January 2014

City beat Rovers in replay to close in on century of goals

Manchester City eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in last night’s replay.

Alvaro Negredo scored just before and after the interval to put City in charge following a spirited early showing from the Championship side.

Edin Dzeko powered home the third halfway through the second half before substitute Sergio Aguero scored less than a minute after coming on to replace Negredo. Dzeko added his second, City’s 99th goal of the season in all competitions, to secure a home tie with Watford in nine days’ time. MORE

Pochettino poised as Cortese resigns

Serious doubts remain over the future of manager Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton after last night’s departure of executive chairman Nicola Cortese. The pair were allies at the club and Pochettino has stated in the past that he would find it hard to remain should Cortese depart. MORE

FA criticised over Anelka case delay

A Jewish group has criticised the Football Association for its delay in resolving the inquiry into Nicolas Anelka’s “quenelle” case. “There is incomprehension at how long this is taking,” the Community Security Trust said. “The lack of explanation is not helping.” MORE

Moyes accepts misconduct charge

Manchester United’s manager, David Moyes, has accepted a Football Association charge of misconduct relating to comments he made after last week’s Capital One Cup defeat at Sunderland. The Scot faces either a fine or warning following his hearing, which he did not attend.

Matic returns to Chelsea for £20m

Nemanja Matic last night completed his return to Chelsea three years after leaving for Benfica. The 25-year-old Serbian midfielder departed in a player-plus-cash swap deal with David Luiz but is now back in the Premier League in a £20.75m deal. MORE

Finn can only get better for paceman

Fast bowler Steve Finn has become the third member of England’s squad to leave the tour of Australia. “He’s got technical issues. The more troublesome they become, the worse the battle becomes,” said one-day coach Ashley Giles. MORE

Easter predicting a Good Saturday

Former England No 8 Nick Easter has backed the side to overcome France in next month’s Six Nations opener. “England are better set in the style they want to play than France,” he said. At the moment it doesn’t look like they know what they want to do.” MORE

Hutchins thanks Murray after win

Ross Hutchins believes the intensity of winter training with Andy Murray helped him make a winning return in the Australian Open doubles. “I wanted to be able to keep up with these guys,” he said. “I’ve always done the hours that he has done.” MORE

Li overcomes tough Swiss miss

Double Australian Open finalist Li Na shook off a fighting Belinda Bencic to make this year’s third round, eventually progresing past the Swiss miss 6-0 7-6. World No 1 Serena Williams eased past Vesna Dolonc 6-1 6-2 in her second round tie. MORE

Dyson looks ahead with clean slate

Simon Dyson said he was determined to learn from his Shanghai aberration as he prepares to make his comeback in Abu Dhabi. “I’m going to be very careful from now on,” he said. “It’s nice to be back and playing.” MORE

Pete Jenson

Manuel Pellegrini learnt to bat away Jose Mourinho curve balls in La Liga. Had there been exte-nded verbals with Alan Pardew, he could have said: “You don’t bother me, I’ve had a police escort out of Superclasico.” MORE