Manchester City 4 FC Porto 0

Not really a match report as such - not really much point for big matches like this, there are hundreds of other reports about!

Funny though to see it being called a thrashing, and reports saying City cruised through this one... yes the scoreline suggests that, and once the second goal of the night went in it was comfortable, but in truth after Aguero scored after 20 seconds it was Porto who enjoyed the bulk of possession and chances until the game reached the 75th minute.

City played a long ball game - not like them at all this season, but they were clearly set up to catch Porto on the break, and also as City's usual passing game is what Porto are used to in the Portuguese league it'd play into their hands.

The BBC report says "City's grip on the game was firm", but actually scroll down to the stats - 18 Porto shots to 9 City shots, and Porto bossed possession for the most part. City did ride their luck for large parts of this one, with a series of Porto free kicks narrowly going wide or over, and dangerous crosses not quite finding a Porto player. If City hadn't had this luck, it might have been a totally different scoreline.

Credit to City for taking Porto apart following the second goal, with Porto having a player receiving a second yellow card for mouthing off at the linesman in the immediate aftermath of that goal - credit to the ref for booking those Porto players who continually protested vociferously when things didn't go their way.

Bolton Wanderers 1 Wigan Athletic 2

Wigan put themselves just a point below Bolton with a vital win against their relegation rivals.

Bolton were very poor in the first half, giving their opponents every chance to get a foothold in the game, and Wigan focused on keeping possession of the ball as much as possible. They didn't particularly create a host of chances, but dominating possession was always likely to pay off over the course of the half, and sure enough in the 43rd minute Gary Caldwell headed in from a corner to put the away fans into delirium.

There was a large away crowd for this one who made a lot of noise in support of their club throughout, some went too far though as a couple of scuffles with stewards and flares being set off and thrown led to 5-10 idiots being removed from the ground by the police.

The Bolton fans meanwhile were largely quiet during the first half, apart from as the half time whistle went as there was a chorus of boos from them, clearly unhappy with a lifeless performance in such a vital fixture.

Bolton improved in the second half as the pacey Miyaichi was introduced, and after an initial spell of continued Wigan dominance, Bolton came to life as Mark Davies fired in a stunning equaliser, the ball bounced up towards him and he smashed a powerful half volley from around 25 yards out that flew high into the net in the 67th minute.

Momentum was with the home side after this as they repeatedly pushed forward, gaining a succession of corners and half chances, and it was looking likely that the constant pressure could lead to another goal for them to turn the game on it's head.

So it was a surprise twist in the 76th minute, when Hugo Rodallega suddenly received the ball on the left wing on a quick break and darted towards the Bolton box. Bogdan blocked Rodallega's shot but the power on it meant he could only parry it, and the ball went straight to McArthur to tap in the winner from close range.

It was a real sucker punch for Bolton after ten minutes of them being on top following their equaliser, but perhaps on the balance of play of the rest of the match it wasn't an undeserved winner for a Wigan side who mainly bossed this match.

The Bolton fans tried to gee up their side for another spell of attacking late on, but in truth that Wigan goal really took the stuffing out of them. Their one big chance late on fell to Miyaichi, who charged through on goal on the left side of the penalty area, but his effort didn't have enough power on it, and Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi was able to save it, to ensure his team gained three points over his former club.

There were more boos at full time for Bolton, and with their next Premier League fixtures being away at Chelsea and Man City, getting points in the following two home fixtures suddenly looks all the more crucial - both are relegation battles against teams currently 1 point above them - Blackburn and QPR.

Wigan meanwhile have the opportunity to be able to overtake Bolton over the next few games, with two home games which they might feel they could be able to gain a couple of points from - at home to Aston Villa and Swansea, and that's followed by games away at Norwich and at home to West Brom.

Manchester City 3 Fulham 0

Manchester City in the end comfortably beat Fulham at the Etihad Stadium, but the scoreline flattered them as Fulham frequently created big chances until the third goal went in.

After dropping points lately, City knew they needed the three points to put the pressure on United, with their local rivals due to play away at Chelsea the following day. And they got the early breakthrough they needed, Adam Johnson falling under a slight trip from Chris Baird in the 10^th minute, Aguero scored the penalty.

It was a bit of a soft penalty, and when Johnson went down in similar fashion shortly after the ref wasn’t interested. Mind you, David Silva was blatantly fouled in the box later on in the half and the ref somehow didn’t give a penalty for that, perhaps looking to “even things up”.

Anyway the game became surprisingly open after that, Fulham frequently coming forward at pace via quick pass-and-moves that City’s defence found difficult to deal with, and City’s multi-million strike force always a danger too. With chances aplenty at both ends a goal was coming.

So it was just as well for City that Chris Baird turned Adam Johnson’s low cross-shot past his own keeper in the 30^th minute. The rest of the half continued to be just as open, the two goal cushion making it less nail biting for the home side.

The weather conditions took their toll in the second half – snow all afternoon had already left the pitch a bit patchy, and it seemed to get heavier as the match progressed.

Over the half time period it began to significantly stick on all parts of the pitch, and it built up to the extent that several times the referee had to pause the match whilst groundsmen hurried on with shovels to dig out the white lines – otherwise the match would’ve been in danger of being cancelled. And with City 2-0 up it was no surprise the groundsmen were very enthusiastic to make sure the game would reach its conclusion!

Both teams still looked to create chances, and with Fulham still looking dangerous, City got the killer third goal as Aguero set it up on a plate for Dzeko to tap in from close range in the 72nd minute to make it 3-0.

Dzeko soon after this deflected the ball towards his own goal and was lucky to see it narrowly miss going into the net, as the ball instead deflected out off the post. This proved to be the last big opportunity for Fulham, who in the latter stages just seemed to want to get the game done with and get out of the heavy snow.

So a morale boosting victory for Manchester City after recent dropped points, with two points dropped by Manchester United the next day making this win all the more valuable.

Bolton Wanderers 2 Swansea City 1

Bolton progressed to the 5th round of the FA Cup after coming from behind against Swansea at the Reebok Stadium.

Unfortunately a crowd of 11,597 left many empty seats at the ground, and early on those who'd given this a miss weren't missing anything. Swansea had made many changes to their side with one eye on their midweek match against Chelsea, and the attacking style of football they've been praised for lately was not in evidence here as they seemed happy to focus on stopping Bolton from creating chances.

Some of the few chances they did manage to create fell to Ngog and Eagles - Ngog wasted his opportunities, and Eagles fired wide and had another effort saved.

And then, approaching half time, Swansea appeared to suddenly smell blood, and a poor encounter began to come to life. Around the 40th minute, Wayne Routledge put the ball into the net from close range, but celebrations were halted by the linesman's flag. However they continued their spell of pressure, and in the 43rd minute Luke Moore received the ball, ran at goal and looped a close range lob over the keeper. The away side were ahead after doing nothing for the opening 40 minutes.

Swansea's fans chanted "Pratley, what's the score?", having a dig at the Bolton player who left them last summer. He came up with the best possible response, heading the ball in from close range right at the end of the half, and credit to him he didn't celebrate in respect to his former club, despite their fans having just been goading him. 1-1 it was at half time.

Swansea had the first opportunity of the second half with Luke Moore shooting wide from range, and then Bolton exerted a spell of pressure of their own, and were rewarded by a goalkeeping mistake. Petrov had a fairly optimistic effort from wide left straight at the Swansea keeper, who failed to gather the ball properly and spilled it to Chris Eagles, who tapped in to the right corner to put Bolton 2-1 ahead.

The game became quite open from that point, with both clubs looking for another goal. Lita hit the woodwork for Swansea and Pratley did the same at the other end, and Reo-Coker found the side netting as Bolton tried to build on their lead.

Brendan Rodgers brought on a couple of first team regulars for Swansea including Danny Graham midway through the second half, and late on they pressed forward and gave the home fans a number of heart in mouth moments, the biggest of which was when Graham got on the end of a cross right near the end of the game, his header bouncing back off the post rather than finding the net. Bolton hung on to the win, and face a long trip South to either face Millwall or Southampton in the next round, depending on who wins in the replay between the two Championship clubs.