Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne were on target as Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the League Cup thanks to a resounding 4-1 victory at Sunderland.
The struggling hosts were outclassed by the Premier League leaders who were 4-0 up within 36 minutes, prompting a number of home fans to make a very premature exit from the Stadium of Light.
The result and, in particular, the manner of the performance, is likely to increase the pressure on Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat who admitted ahead of the game that he would step down if he felt someone better was ready to replace him.
Both managers opted for strong starting line-ups, with Sunderland handing a debut to DeAndre Yedlin and Manuel Pellegrini including Aguero, De Bruyne, Yaya Toure and Sterling.
Sergio Aguero started the ball rolling from the penalty spot before De Bruyne, Vito Mannone’s own goal and Sterling made it 4-0 by the break to extend bottom-of-the-table Sunderland’s first-half goals conceded tally for the season to 17 in just eight games and make Ola Toivonen’s late header irrelevant.
City boss Manuel Pellegrini made just three changes to the side beaten 2-1 at home by West Ham at the weekend – the club’s second reverse inside five days – as Willy Caballero, Martin Demichelis and Fernando replaced Joe Hart, the injured Eliaquim Mangala and Fernandinho.