RIYAD MAHREZ picked up where he left off as City cruised into the last 16 without breaking sweat.

Mahrez marked his return to the Etihad from AFCON duty by bagging a double – albeit the second courtesy of a pretty sizeable deflection – to continue his sparkling scoring run.

His brace made it six consecutive scoring games at club level for the Algerian, on his first appearance in sky blue since winning at Arsenal on New Year’s Day.

And if that helped make it little more than a slight step up on a training ground workout…well that’s because it was.

From the 12^th minute, at least, when City nosed into a lead they never looked like giving up – and all after Fulham had the nerve to sneak in front as well.

To be honest, that probably didn’t help their cause by tweaking the tiger’s tail thanks to that early goal from Fabio Carvalho.

The Portuguese youngster would have already packed his bags for Anfield, had Liverpool been able to agree the fee over a deadline day move.

As it is, the teenager will have to wait until the summer before heading north, when he is out of contract.

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Yet he earned himself a few pre-move brownie points on the Kop by sidefooting Fulham in front with a goal Guardiola would have been proud to see his City slickers produce.

Aleks Mitrovic set the ball rolling with a sweeping pass to his right, and Harry Wilson – himself a one-time Liverpool wannabe – delivered the perfect cross for Carvalho to finish.

A better start certainly than their last Cup visit here, when they had Tim Ream sent off after barely five minutes, in a 5-0 hiding at the same stage two years ago.

But those hopes of claiming the most prized scalp in English football? Well let’s just say they kicked the hornet’s nest, because inside 90 seconds City were level.

Phil Foden buzzed his way into the box, and when it was nicked off his toe, first Joao Cancelo from one side, then Riyad Mahrez from the other sent balls into the box.

And from the second, Ilkay Gundogan volleyed past Paulo Gazzaniga. Balance restored, City back on track…and after 13 minutes on course for the last 16.

That was courtesy of an altogether more basic effort, Kevin De Bruyne curling in the perfect “finish me” corner, and John Stones doing just that by flicking a header past Gazzaniga.

Of course with just the one-goal advantage, City could never totally relax, for all they were rarely seriously troubled.

FA CUP

Fourth Round results:

Man Utd 1-1 Boro AET (7-8 pens)

Chelsea 2-1 Plymouth

Kidderminster 1-2 West Ham AET

Crystal Palace 2-0 Hartlepool

Everton 4-1 Brentford

Huddersfield 1-0 Barnsley

Man City 4-1 Fulham

Peterborough 2 QPR 0

Stoke 2-0 Wigan

Wolves 0-1 Norwich

Cambridge v Luton 5.30pm KO

Tottenham v Brighton 8pm KO

Thank Heavens, then, for their breathe-easy third, seven minutes after the break, which ended what few doubts there were over the outcome.

It came from the boot of Riyad Mahrez, smashing a penalty into the corner, yet was all down to the speed of thought – and feet – of Jack Grealish.

When Etihad old boy Tosin Adarabioyo played a lazy ball from the back, Grealish pounced and danced into the box, before Joe Bryan dumped him on his backside.

Mahrez did the rest – and helped himself to a second five minutes later, after another shoot-yourself-in-the-foot moment by Fulham.

This time Harrison Reed was the culprit when his misplaced pass sent De Bruyne scooting clear, and the Cottagers backline out of position to a man.

For a man who can deliver an eye-of-the-needle pass, finding an unmarked Mahrez with ten yards of space either side of him was kid’s stuff for De Bruyne.

And although the Algerian made anything but the cleanest of contact with his shot, which also took a deflection off Ream, it made no difference to its destination – bottom corner.

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