Perhaps Gary Neville sensed what was about to happen when the biggest day of his decade as co-owner of Salford City finally arrived.
The driving force and spokesperson for the club's Class of '92 ownership group was not present to see his team being coached by a Manchester City squad that consisted of just two recognized defenders.
Neville was on a skiing holiday when Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt took up their positions in the director's box. He missed a masterclass in which City's Jeremy Doku, to coin a term once reserved for Ryan Giggs, tore Salford apart.
Giggs made his presence amply known by hanging around the pitch before kick-off, entering the technical area and doing the kind of greeting to Pep Guardiola normally reserved for a manager.
Unconventional behavior from a football director – his job title at Salford – and certainly not settling for Robinson, no matter what the manager claims to the contrary.
It made no difference. Salford have been operating under the misconception that you can leave a player with the same space in which he can operate as is safe in League Two, where they have enjoyed decent promotion in recent months.
Chants of 'Giggs is falling apart again' echoed through the room after Jeremy Doku took them to an early lead, ripping a right-foot shot past Salford keeper Matty Young without so much as a controlling touch, after Matheus Nunes and Jack Grealish did it had done. processed the ball to him.
The conversation Pep Guardiola had with his players during a break in the first half told its own story. The team was already two goals ahead, but City's manager ran the session as if it were the cup final. The breeze in which the match changed should not obscure the achievements of the new generation that hangs on its every word.
There was a first senior goal for Divin Mubama, as Nunes embarked on a wide, sweeping run to receive a ball he set up for the 20-year-old to tap in. And then a first senior goal for 19-year-old Nico O'Reilly, who whipped home an angular shot after Doku had played with the defense.
Grealish was brought down and set up a penalty which he converted for the fourth before Nunes and Doku, a ruthless combination, linked up again for the fifth – the Belgian sending running and leveling for 22-year-old Salford lad James McAtee , to step up for Shepherd to convert.
Doku was 20 meters away when he intervened and provoked the handball, allowing him to convert a second City penalty. McAtee received and shot with his left hand to score a second, with Phil Foden providing the ball. Grealish provided Foden with space for the eighth.
It was a profound humiliation for Salford, whose backline looked shell-shocked and without confidence, with City scoring at will. The champions needed just ten shots on target to score their eight.
The prospects of Salford City threatening were now virtually non-existent. A run through Kylian Kouassi's area in the first half was the only promising moment, but a weak shot followed.
It was a much-needed boost for City, whose fans could treat themselves to a Posnan and urged their team to score ten even though a ninth had not gone in. Giggs failed to re-establish himself on a technical level when the worst of the beating was inflicted. . He has never had a cup experience like this.
This tie was pulled out of the pot in December, just after City's heavy defeat to Liverpool led the Anfield faithful to question Guardiola's future employment prospects, and Neville's jovial response to it on X/Twitter was “being fired tomorrow morning?” Not very wise, as it turned out.
The City fans loved dishing out ritual abuse for him towards the end. Maybe staying away was best.
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