City 3 - 0 Arsenal

• A semi final! (To be more precise, a semi final of a major cup competition. The semi final against Wigan Athletic in May 1999 does have an important place in our collective heart, although it is not quite the same thing.) If you wanted one clear example of the progress that we are making then here you are. If you include Hamburg last year we had lost five quarter finals in the last five seasons. Arsenal Reserves at home is an easy tie, but we’d lost to worse. After weeks of evidence to the contrary, it was a relief to see that Mark Hughes might just have ‘typical City’ in retreat.

• But let’s not get distracted from the performance. It was as well as we have played all season – certainly our best performance since we beat Arsenal’s first team 4-2 at Eastlands in September. In control of possession, speed on the attack and solidity in defence it was a huge improvement on recent weeks. What a delight to see us take the chances we create and not throw our lead away.

• It must be said, though, that Arsenal Reserves are a particularly accommodating side to play against. With that charming combination of technical excellence but physical and mental weakness they give you enough space and enough chances that any decent team playing at home should be able to beat them. Alex Song had a huge job on his hands – but the back four were poorly protected and we found it much easier to turn possession into chances than we have in the recent past.

• This was helped by the fact that three of our front four – Shaun Wright-Phillips, Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tévez all had their best games for some time. Their pace and movement was too much for Arsenal, more than making up for the fact that Emmanuel Adebayor had a quieter game than most anticipated. It does raise the question of whether Nigel de Jong comes into the team on Saturday (a must, for me), and if so for whom? It would be very bold of Hughes to drop any of those three – although Wright-Phillips’ ankle knock may provide an excuse – and so don’t rule out Tévez leading the line in 4-2-3-1. And this is to say nothing of Robinho.

Arsenal preview

For all the frustration with our run of draws, it's easy to think that our league campaign is over. It isn't. We're three points off fourth place. Everyone can calm down in the knowledge that we have twenty five Premier League games remaining to re-assert ourselves. Tonight, though, is quite different: a few hours from now we will either be in our first semi-final since 1981, or will have lost our fourth quarter final in five seasons.

It's a fairly important game. The more so, because with our run of seven consecutive league draws, the judgement made on Mark Hughes by the fans, the press and the board has been in suspense for some time. While a win tonight would win him a quite significant amount of credit, a defeat would have a serious and destabilising impact. We are not yet near a tipping-point (these things always take longer than people envisage), but defeats this evening and on Saturday - with difficult trips to the Reebok and White Hart Lane to come - could lead to a festive period as uncomfortable as last year's was.

Regarding the game itself, there's no doubting who should win. We've already comfortably beaten Arsenal's first team at home this season - putting a total of seven goals past them the last two times they've come to Eastlands. And tonight is not Arsenal's first team. Of those that started the 4-2, only Alex Song has travelled. Of those that came on in that game, Tomáš Rosický and Emmanuel Eboué are also in the squad tonight. But then it's Carlos Vela and Mikaël Silvestre at the well known end, with Kyle Bartley, Craig Eastmond and Emmanuel Frimpong at the other extreme.

I don't know exactly what the City side will be tonight. There are rumours of a place for Sylvinho, an injury to Gareth Barry and even a rare start for Nedum Onuoha. But I am sure that it will be better on paper than Arsenal. Whether we can convert that difference on the pitch, I'm not so sure. People say that Arsenal have a bad record in knock-out competitions recently, and, by their standards, they do. But if there's one thing lodged in City's DNA it is the ability to freeze in what ought to be negotiable quarter-final ties. And if the last two months have taught us anything, it is that Mark Hughes and Garry Cook still have some way to go before they can be said to have slain 'typical City.'

Arsenal reserves at home

A decent draw all things considered. Of course, Arsenal reserves are very good and I certainly wouldn't want them at Emirates. But our experienced players and home advantage should make us narrow favourites.

City 5 - 1 Scunthorpe

• Nottingham Forest it was not. For all my fears that this would be something from the bad old days, an unwelcome head-rearing from the monstrous 'typical City', it was turned out to be exactly what it ought to have been: a comfortable and comforting win against lesser opposition, with important goals and minutes from players that needed them.

• With the Premier League as competitive as it is, we cannot afford to risk dropping points by playing weakened teams. So this evening was a welcome chance to give game time to those that needed it most: Vincent Kompany, Roque Santa Cruz, Michael Johnson and Sylvinho.

• And how well it turned out for them! It would have been a success if just one of our players returning to fitness had scored, but goals from both Santa Cruz and Johnson represents a real triumph. Santa Cruz was always going to be a matter of time, but this was Johnson's first for over two years (he missed a penalty in the shootout at FC Midtjylland, remember). Remember how relieving it was when Valeri Bozhinov scored at White Hart Lane in May? Well this is as good as that.

• Before we signed Emmanuel Adebayor I was thrilled at the prospect of the Carlos Tévez/Roque Santa Cruz partnership: an all-South American Rösler and Quinn for the twenty-first century. With Adebayor's signing and Santa Cruz's knee injury this had not materialised until today. But with Adebayor set to spend January in Angola with the Togo national side it was pleasing to hear that that they did so well.

• Fortunately, we have a great record in cup quarter finals. If there is one time when Mark Hughes wants to prove that he has slain the 'typical City' beast once and for all then this is it. Of course we'd love Portsmouth or Blackburn Rovers at home but the chances are we will either get a top team (Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United, albeit with changes), or one of our fiercest rivals (Tottenham and Aston Villa.) We're only one game away from a cup semi-final for the first time in ages. This is big.
  

Scunthorpe date confirmed

The Carling Cup fourth round tie against Scunthorpe United has not been selected for live television coverage and will be played on Wednesday, October 28th with a 7.45pm kick-off. Ticket details will follow in due course.

Via the official site.

Scunthorpe at home

Good news today: Scunthorpe United at home in the next round of Carling Cup.

Fulham date confirmed

It's going to be on Wednesday 23rd September at 8pm.

Something which gives us a really good shot at this is the fixture congestion Fulham are facing. The tie comes as the fourth in a seven game run Fulham have to play in just twenty days. They have Everton (h) on Sunday 13th, before travelling to Martin Petrov's old club CSKA Sofia on Thursday 17th, before Wolves (a) on Sunday 20th. Then it's this Carling Cup game with City, before Arsenal (h) on Saturday 26th, Basel (Felipe Caicedo's old club) at home on Thursday October 1st, and then a trip along the length of the Hammersmith & City line to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 3rd.

It's a punishing schedule for any team, but it could well force compromises on Fulham given the limited size of their squad. And we can only hope that it's our game when they rest their best players. Because Fulham have a fantastic record at City: since the start of the 2005/06 season they have won only nine away games in the Premier League - and three of them have been at Eastlands.

Fulham at home

Next round of the Carling Cup drawn.

As a London-based blue I would have loved the reverse of this fixture - I enjoyed Selhurst Park on Thursday - but consecutive London games was too much to ask.

Ought to be televised though.