Manchester City U18s were ruthless as they came from a goal down to thrash Crewe Alexandra 6-1 in the quarter finals of the FA Youth Cup on Monday night.
Tom Lowery handed the young Railwaymen the ideal start, as his rising 2o-yard drive found the top corner in the seventh minute - but despite a raucous Crewe following cheering the visitors on at the Academy Stadium, City hit back quickly as their quality began to show.
Reversing the lead with two quick-fire goals, the first an excellent team effort and the second the lively Brandon Barker finding the bottom corner, City turned the screw as their £30-million multi-national side expressed its talents.
After going into half-time with a 2-1 lead, Jason Wilcox's City side found their flow - adding four more goals through Brandon Barker again, Deneil Boadu, Bersant Celina and Thierry Ambrose - as they completed a rout to book a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
On a cold, snowy night in Manchester, the hosts were left shocked within 10 minutes. After classy Kosovan midfielder Celina's free-kick flew harmlessly over Liam Matthews' crossbar, the Reds snatched the lead with their very first chance on goal.
After a quick counter-attack involving George Cooper and Andre Brown looked to have petered out, the ball fell kindly to Tom Lowery and from 20-yards, he unleashed a rasping drive that flew past City stopper Kjetil Haug to hand Crewe a surprise lead.
But Crewe, who had shocked Arsenal on their own patch by winning 3-2 in the previous round, did not retain their slender advantage for long as the hosts began to demonstrate why they were crowned U18s Barclays Premier League champions last season.
Almost immediately from the kick-off, Celina was presented with another free-kick opportunity. This time, the 18-year-old curled a fantastic effort up and over the wall, which Crewe keeper Matthews had to leap well to be equal to.
In the 12th minute, Matthews could do nothing to prevent City drawing level. Full-back Angelino picked up the ball from Brandon Barker, before making his way down the left-hand side, curling a beatiful low cross across the face of the defence and into the path of Aaron Nemane, who only had to connect with the ball to place it in at the far post.
Less than two minutes later, Wilcox's side were in front. Barker, who troubled Crewe's defence all night, scored his fourth goal of the competition as he drilled inside Matthews' far post after being afforded too much space inside the area.
The Alex were understandably downhearted, and they could have trailed further before the half-an-hour mark. Celina, running through on goal, looked destined to add a third goal but the impressive Matthews did well to come off his line and thwart the midfielder by sticking out a leg.
Alex Morris' plucky Crewe were far from out of the tie. Having done well to reach the last eight of the competition, they continued their fight as the game's underdogs. George Cooper, who has scored three goals for their first-team in League One this year, was the figurehead of their attack - but could not make the most of his chances as he sent one strike over the bar and tested Haug's reflexes with a low 20-yarder.
City, however, were notably of a higher quality across the pitch. With more strength and speed, they continued to carve Crewe's back-four apart with relative ease. Just before the break, Thierry Ambrose had an ideal opportunity to kill the visitors' fightback as he rised to meet Angelino's cross, but the header did little to test Matthews.
The Crewe goalkeeper was unfortunate to concede so many goals on a night where he put in a credible performance, making a number of strong stops, but was almost caught out by Celina's brilliance. Again from a set-piece, the midfielder sent a curling effort goalbound but was denied by the crossbar as City were forced into the break with a slim advantage.
That didn't take long to change after half-time. Having battled hard to stay in the game, Crewe were dealt a disappointing blow when the defence allowed Boadu room to exceptionally curl his shot inside of the far post, following good build-up from the lively Angelino down the left-hand side.
Having made it 3-1, the floodgates soon began to open - as Crewe's faint hopes of qualification became dimmer and dimmer. Had Morris' young side, many of whom were homegrown, taken advantage of the half-chances afforded to them, then the story may have been different - but they were wasteful after the break.
Norwegian keeper Haug had a few shaky second-half moments, spilling a cross into the path of Crewe captain Joe Kearns - but could not adjust his feet to poke an effort past the City goalkeeper.
With time running out for the visitors to reignite their hopes, City well and truly killed the game with a fourth shortly after the hour. Barker, who had troubled the Alex defence with a mix of speed, strength and trickery, added his second of the game when he showed a clean pair of heels to race on to a long ball and prod past the oncoming Matthews for 4-1.
Finally, having hit the bar a second time in the game, Celina finally notched the goal his performance deserved in the 82nd minute. He was there to convert from close-range after City had missed a number of opportunities, before Ambrose inflicted even more pain on Crewe's youngsters as he placed home from Nemane's unselfish square ball to ensure a crushing 6-1 victory.
The win brought Crewe Alexandra's unexpected Youth Cup run to a halt, after they had taken impressive wins against the likes of Arsenal, Fulham and Preston - whilst a clinical City side will now take on Leicester City over two-legs for the opportunity to meet one of Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the competition.