Indeed, injury-plagued centre-back John Stones was far from commanding on his return to the starting line-up, but at least the stand-in skipper's lack of minutes represented an excuse for his dodgy display.
Phil Foden had no such excuse for once again looking like a shadow of the player that was once considered among the best in the Premier League, as he toiled against a fourth-tier team.
In the end, though, the introduction of Semenyo and Guehi proved decisive, as the latter was on hand to turn home a deflected cross from Rayan Cherki to score his first goal since his winter-window arrival from Crystal Palace - and seal a 2-0 win over a team that City hammered 8-0 almost exactly a year ago.
GOAL rates all of the City players on show at the Etihad as last season's FA Cup runners-up progressed to the fifth round with a desperately poor performance that did little to dispel doubts over the strength in depth of Guardiola's squad...
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