Bristol City 0-3 Manchester City: Foden nets brace as De Bruyne seals comfortable FA Cup victory

Manchester City are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals after a comfortable 3-0 win over Bristol City.

Phil Foden scored twice and Kevin De Bruyne added late shine as the six-time FA Cup winners ended Bristol City's 12-game unbeaten run in front of a packed crowd in the West Country.

The scoreline was tough for the hosts, who fell behind Foden's seventh-minute goal and remained strong in the competition well into the final quarter.

But Foden's deflected strike 16 minutes from time and a fine finish from De Bruyne secured the visitors' place in the last eight.

De Bruyne returned after missing two games through illness and captained a Manchester City side showing five changes from Saturday's Premier League victory at Bournemouth.

England midfielder Kalvin Phillips made just his second start since leaving Leeds last summer as Ederson, Erling Haaland, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish and Rodri started the night on the bench.

Phillips was clearly determined to impress after his injury struggles and only 63 seconds had passed when he hit the crossbar from 25 yards out.

In a frantic opener, Manuel Akanji's slide gave Sam Bell a shot opportunity which ended up being deflected and the visitors were in front shortly after.

Riyad Mahrez made a clever one-two with De Bruyne and the Algerian's cross at the far post was swept high into the net by Foden, who scored for the second game in a row.

Bristol City's response was a loud penalty shout after Mark Sykes got tangled up with Rico Lewis. It seemed like a legitimate call but referee Andre Marriner stood still and with no VAR in operation the home fans were left frustrated.

Julian Alvarez kicked badly in front of goal at home from Foden's cross, but Bristol City got away with it and received quite a bit of joy on their left flank.

Alex Scott shot directly at Stefan Ortega and Bell fired after Tomas Kalas caught De Bruyne in possession.

Manchester City's threat was also evident when Mahrez saw his volley deflected off the line by Kalas and Ruben Dias tested Max O'Leary with a header.

Mahrez was making his 400th appearance in English football and Robins boss Nigel Pearson, who signed him for Leicester in 2014 from French club Le Havre, couldn't resist having a word with the Algerian when he went down following a throw-in challenge from Cameron Pring.

Ederson replaced Ortega at half-time and Manchester City took over the contest without making O'Leary work until Alvarez forced him into a low save to his right.

Foden was caught late and took instant retribution on Sykes to earn a yellow card and a word from his manager Pep Guardiola to stay focused.

The temperature was rising both on and off the pitch as the competition became more balanced and Bristol City fans urged their players to seize the moment.

It almost happened when Scott dispossessed Dias so that Andreas Weimann sent a cross that Bell was running just wide.

But it was all over when De Bruyne played a wonderful through ball to Nathan Ake before Alvarez assisted it to Foden, and the Belgium midfielder ensured he would have the last laugh at 20 meters.

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