City brushes Porto aside in Europa League

Soccer Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City steam rolled over Porto at home on Wednesday, earning a 4-0 victory against the Portuguese side to advance to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.

Four different players got on the score sheet at the Etihad as Sergio Aguero gave the home side the lead by halftime before Edin Dzeko, David Silva, and David Pizarro all chipped in with second-half goals to seal the win.

It only took City 19 seconds to break through as the Citizens capitalized on a giveaway in midfield.

Yaya Toure intercepted a poor pass from the Porto defense and played a brilliant through ball to split the back line. Aguero latched on and slotted his effort to the far post to get the Citizens off to a dream start.

Aguero nearly grabbed a second goal in the 29th minute when he beat the offside trap, danced around Porto goalkeeper Helton, and chipped a shot over a covering defender, but the Argentine was denied by the crossbar as his effort rattled the frame and was cleared to safety.

A second goal eventually came through second-half substitute Dzeko, and it was Aguero who turned provider in the 76th minute.

The Argentine threaded a through ball at the perfect moment to find Dzeko and the lanky striker made no mistake with the finish, slipping a shot under Helton to put the nail in the coffin.

Silva added insult to injury for the visitors following another giveaway by the Porto defense. He one-timed a centering pass from Pizarro in the 84th minute into the back of the net after Helton was drawn out of position.

Pizarro quickly put an exclamation point at the end of the aggregate score, taking advantage of a failed clearance two minutes later and adding a fourth goal for City to make it a 6-1 win for the Citizens over both legs.

Manchester City will commence Europa League play on March 8 against the winner of the Legia Warsaw and Sporting Lisbon tie. Legia Warsaw and Sporting Lisbon are set to play their second leg matchup Thursday in Portugal, tied 2-2 on aggregate.

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