Middlesbrough vs. Manchester City: Score and Reaction from 2017 FA Cup

Manchester City booked an FA Cup semi-final date at Wembley Stadium, as they coasted to a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

David Silva struck in the third minute of the game to give the visitors the perfect start, and they were the dominant force for much of the first period. After seeing an earlier effort turned on to the post, Sergio Aguero doubled their advantage with a poacher's finish in the 67th minute.

In these kinds of matches—an elite team away at determined hosts—an early goal for the visitors can be important. And that's exactly what City got.

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Three minutes in, City worked the ball out to Pablo Zabaleta at the back post, and he fired a cross into the six-yard box. Silva was on the spot to fire home after Raheem Sterling missed his kick, silencing the Riverside crowd.

Per OptaJoe, the man known as Merlin by the City faithful has been enjoying the FA Cup this season:

As you'd expect, Pep Guardiola's side took control of the contest from that point and had chances to double their advantage.

Leroy Sane was causing plenty of problems on the left flank, but his cross had a little too much pace on it for Aguero. The young German then spurned a great opportunity of his own on the half-hour mark, firing tamely at Brad Guzan after some neat buildup, before setting up Sterling, who was halted by Ben Gibson.

Jack Lang of the Daily Mirror was enjoying Sane's work out on the left wing:

Boro's best chances came from slack play from the visitors, with Claudio Bravo almost having a moment to forget when he fumbled Rudy Gestede's header. But at the break, City would have been lamenting not taking the match away from their opponents in the first period.

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They were profligate after the break, too, with Silva scooping over when the ball dropped to him in the area. City came even closer a couple of minutes later as Sterling played in Aguero, whose prodded effort was turned on to the inside of the post by Guzan.

The City Twitter feed was looking for a little bit of luck as the Sky Blues pursued what would surely be a killer second goal:

Guzan was proving a tough man to beat, though. The United States international plunged to keep out Silva's shot and then sprung to his right to turn a long-range effort from Sane around the post.

Eventually, the pressure proved too much for the hosts. In the 67th minute, Sane scampered down the wing again and fizzed a magnificent cross across goal. Aguero was ahead of his marker in the box and made no mistake with the finish.

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Since returning to the team to replaced the injured Gabriel Jesus, the City No. 10 has been in sensational form:

Boro flung men forward in search of some kind of response, and they came close to reducing the deficit through Fabio, who saw his effort cleared off the line by John Stones.

However, it was the visitors who had the better chances to score on the counter-attack as the clock ticked down, with Guzan doing well to keep the visitors' lead to just two.

City have hit top form as of late and were in total control of this one. While there are clearly some deficiencies in their defensive play, there's so much attacking firepower for Guardiola to call upon, with Sterling, Sane and Aguero all linking up to great effect here.

The FA Cup may not have been Guardiola's priority at the start of the season, but the City boss will understand how important it is to get that first piece of silverware secured. Based on this comprehensive display, the City players do, too.

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After the contest, Zabaleta told BT Sport (h/t the Manchester Evening News) the team should have scored more goals on the day.

"This is a tough place to come, they are a very physical team, and they are very dangerous on crosses, and I think we were very good at the back," the Argentina international said. "We created a lot of chances but overall we were the better team, and we deserve to go through."

In the same interview, Sane hailed the goalscoring talent of Aguero and suggested he should have got on the scoresheet himself.

"It's true we had a lot of chances to score goals, but I think I had three myself, and David had a lot of chances, and Raheem, and yes if we score it's easier for us to play the game," said the winger. "Sergio is a great player, a big player and it's a lot of fun to play with him."