Manchester City reached the fifth round of the FA Cup with a far-from-convincing 2-0 win over League Two Salford.
Pep Guardiola's side thrashed their neighbours 8-0 last season but needed an early own goal from Alfie Dorrington and a late effort from Marc Guehi to prevail on this occasion at the Etihad Stadium.
Yet City, who made nine changes, did not need to be anywhere near their best.
Dorrington's unfortunate sixth-minute intervention robbed the contest of a lot of its intensity and City effectively went through the motions thereafter.
That did allow Salford to settle and former Liverpool midfielder Ben Woodburn forced a fine save from James Trafford before the interval.
But City were always able to keep the Ammies, who are part-owned by two former Manchester United players in Gary Neville and David Beckham, at arm's length.
Guehi came off the bench to end any prospect of a Salford shock by pouncing on a rebound for his first goal for the club nine minutes from time. Fellow substitute Antoine Semenyo also hit the post in the closing minutes.
Job done for City but Salford show improvement
Salford put in a far better display than when they lost 8-0 to Man City in last season's FA Cup
Image: Salford put in a far better display than when they lost 8-0 to Man City in last season's FA Cup
Analysis from Sky Sports' Peter Stevenson:
"Job done for Guardiola's Manchester City who move on to far bigger tests in their pursuit of four trophies.
"But this was a tricky afternoon, make no mistake. Salford next face Newport in their League Two promotion push, and surely Karl Robinson's men will take huge heart from the way they handled themselves.
"Losing 2-0 after an 8-0 drubbing 13 months ago is impressive improvement."
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