Sweet vengeance as City stomps Wigan

Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas scored their first goals for Manchester City en route to avenging last season's shock FA Cup final defeat by Wigan Athletic with a 5-0 victory in the League Cup third round at home on Tuesday.

Montenegro striker Jovetic, signed for $39.9 million from Fiorentina in the offseason, scored twice on a night when fellow Premier League heavyweights Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur also eased into the next round.

Fernando Torres started for Chelsea and scored its first goal in a 2-0 win at League One (third tier) Swindon Town while Jermain Defoe, who is also often left on the bench, made the most of his outing at Aston Villa with a brace in Tottenham's 4-0 victory.

Manchester City's 1-0 defeat by Wigan at Wembley in May led to manager Roberto Mancini being shown the door and Chilean Manuel Pellegrini taking his place at Etihad Stadium.

Wigan, which was relegated from the Premier League last season, also has a new man in charge in Owen Coyle but never threatened a repeat of its FA Cup heroics.

Edin Dzeko put City ahead after 33 minutes and Jovetic scored from close range to make it 2-0 in the 60th minute.

Yaya Toure curled in a free kick for City's third before Jovetic, who will be hoping to put a dent in England's World Cup hopes next month, headed his second.

Spain winger Navas then wrapped up an easy win for City which made 10 changes to the side that thrashed champion Manchester United in the Premier League at the weekend.

"We can change names but, for me, it was important to see today the same team we saw on Sunday.

"We had the same philosophy, the same intensity and, of course, scoring 12 goals in a week is very important," Pellegrini said.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's Jose Mourinho also made wholesale changes to his side with Juan Mata, David Luiz and Torres, none of whom were in the squad for the win against Fulham on Saturday, coming in.

Torres pounced in the 29th minute when Mata's shot was turned into his path by Swindon keeper Wes Foderingham.

The Spain striker then played an astute pass to Brazilian midfielder Ramires whose silky finish gave Chelsea some breathing space.

Tottenham, which hosts Chelsea on Saturday in the Premier League, registered its eighth win in nine matches in all competitions.

Defoe headed the Spurs in front from Lewis Holtby's lobbed pass and Tottenham's Brazil midfielder Paulinho hooked in a second from a corner shortly after the interval.

(China Daily 09/26/2013 page24)