Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo grabbed a hat-trick as his side crushed West Ham United 6-0 in their League Cup semi-final first leg in another body blow for the beleaguered London club.
City effectively sealed their place in the final at Wembley with another one-sided demonstration of their attacking potency, Edin Dzeko scoring two and Yaya Toure joining Negredo on the scoresheet.
It's the second time in four days that West Ham have conceded more than five goals after they were knocked out of the FA Cup 5-0 by second tier Nottingham Forest.
The result ratcheted up the pressure on West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, whose side are 19th in the Premier League.
Providing City safely negotiate the second leg, they will face Sunderland or Manchester United in the final on March 2.
