Man City 2 - 0 Birmingham

Hargreaves marks his return to action with a 22-yard piledriver

By Sam Lyon BBC Sport

Owen Hargreaves put his injury problems behind him with a fabulous goal on his debut as Manchester City beat holders Birmingham City to reach the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring.

Mario Balotelli sealed an easy win from Pablo Zabaleta's cross on 38 minutes.

Birmingham rarely looked like troubling the hosts, with Curtis Davies seeing their best chance cleared off the line.

It was a tame way for the visitors' hold on the Carling Cup to come to an end, with Chris Hughton's side surrendering the trophy with a toothless display.

But in truth this match was all about Hargreaves' return, even overshadowing Kolo Toure's comeback after serving a six-month ban for a failed drugs test.

The 30-year-old midfielder was excellent during his 57-minute return.

Eyebrows were raised when Hargreaves was signed on a free transfer by City after his release by United given his injury problems over the past three years, but over the course of nearly an hour in this match he cast many of those doubts aside.

DID YOU KNOW?

Owen Hargreaves made 54 passes against Birmingham, eight more than he completed in the Premier League during his last three seasons at Manchester United

By surviving the first six minutes Hargreaves matched the total amount of playing time he had managed previously in virtually three years - and by scoring his first goal since April 2008 he set the hosts on their way to a fifth win of the season in all competitions.

It was a terrific strike, too, latching on to a loose ball and lashing his shot like an arrow into the top corner from 22 yards out.

And that was not all Hargreaves contributed. He was busy, accurate with his passing and a constant menace to Birmingham at both ends of the pitch. Many more performances like this and calls for him to be not only a regular for Manchester City but also England will not be too far away.

He has much to prove before that, though, and this win was not all down to the former England international's return.

Despite 11 changes from the side that drew with Fulham at the weekend, the hosts were always in control.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Balotelli, supported from a deeper-lying attacking position by Carlos Tevez, was lively, and it was he who grabbed the hosts' second, applying a neat finish to Zabaleta's cross on 38 minutes.

And Toure made his mark too, the Ivorian clearing off the line after Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon had dropped Jean Beausejour's free-kick, offering Curtis Davies the chance to send an overhead kick towards City's otherwise empty goal.

It was Birmingham's only attack in the first half of their first game in this competition since they stunned Arsenal in last season's final - and despite a slightly improved second-half performance, it was by far the closest the visitors came to breaching the hosts' defences.

In contrast, Manchester City continued to threaten and only two fine saves from Colin Doyle in the Birmingham goal, from Tevez and then Toure, kept the scoreline respectable.

And so it was that a Manchester City side containing Nedum Onuoha, appearing for City for the first time since April 2010, coasted home.

Lineup, Bookings (0) & Substitutions (6)

Manchester City

30 Pantilimon
03 Bridge (Rekik - 78' )
05 Zabaleta
13 Kolarov
15 Savic
24 Onuoha
28 K Toure
20 Hargreaves (Milner - 57' )
62 Razak (Scapuzzi - 86' )
32 Tevez
45 Balotelli

Substitutes

12 Taylor
22 Clichy
44 Rekik
07 Milner
36 Suarez
16 Aguero
49 Scapuzzi

Birmingham City

13 Doyle
03 Murphy
05 Pablo
23 Spector
24 Davies
07 Burke
08 N'daw
11 Beausejour
18 Fahey (Gomis - 67' )
22 Redmond (King - 78' )
17 Rooney (Zigic - 67' )

Substitutes

01 Myhill
04 Caldwell
14 Gomis
09 King
19 Zigic
25 Asante
36 Jervis

Ref: Friend

Att: 25,070

Match Stats

Possession 61 39

Shots

11 8

On target

7 5

Corners

4 5

Fouls

11 8

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +3:39 Full time

Full Time The referee brings the game to a close.

90:00 +1:39

Corner taken by Jean Beausejour from the right by-line, Headed effort from inside the area by Marlon King misses to the left of the goal.

90:00 +1:17

Marlon King takes a shot. Save by Costel Pantilimon.

88:20

Short corner taken by James Milner.

87:45

Inswinging corner taken left-footed by Jean Beausejour from the right by-line, Kolo Toure manages to make a clearance.

86:55

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Morgaro Gomis by Karim Rekik. David Murphy has an effort direct from the free kick, save by Costel Pantilimon.

85:45 Substitution

Substitution Luca Scapuzzi is brought on as a substitute for Abdul Razak.

84:48

Carlos Tevez takes a shot. Colin Doyle makes a save. Mario Balotelli takes a shot. Save made by Colin Doyle.

84:04

Corner taken by Jean Beausejour from the right by-line, clearance by Stefan Savic.

83:32

Morgaro Gomis takes a shot. Stefan Savic gets a block in.

78:15

Long range shot by Chris Burke goes wide right of the goal.

77:12 Substitution

Substitution Karim Rekik comes on in place of Wayne Bridge.

77:12 Substitution

Substitution Marlon King replaces Nathan Redmond.