AMSTERDAM – US midfielder Michael Bradley earned his first start with Aston Villa on Wednesday, but his 71 minutes on the field wasn't enough to lift his new club into the FA Cup quarterfinals.
Yaya Toure scored in the fifth minute and Aston Villa never recovered, as Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 win in Manchester. Bradley – who made his only other appearance as a substitute for Villa in a league match against Blackpool on Feb. 12 – started in the defensive central midfield but was subbed out in the second half for club regular Ashley Young.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel made five saves in the loss. Mario Balotelli (25') and David Silva (70') each added a goal for Manchester City.
Meanwhile in Scotland, fellow US midfielder Maurice Edu was one of few Rangers players not to go into the ref's book during an overheated 1-0 Scottish Cup round of 16 replay loss to archrivals Celtic at Parkhead. The match ended with the visitors down to eight men and was marked by confrontations between opposing managers, coaches and players at the end of both halves.
Steven Whitaker had already been sent off for a second violation when Celtic's Marc Wilson scrambled home the game's lone goal just after the break, and repeat bookings at the final whistle saw red also shown to Majdid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf.
Meanwhile, Oguchi Onyewu was an unused sub as FC Twente advanced to the KNVB Cup final with a 1-0 victory over 10-man visitors FC Utrecht.
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