The former
England international, who has 42 caps, had played less than 15 minutes of
competitive soccer since he last completed 90 minutes exactly three years ago
on Sept. 21 2008.
He scored
with a superb shot from 22 metres after 17 minutes and was also impressive
linking the play and giving City the edge.
Hargreaves
was given a rapturous round of applause when he went off, injury free after 57
minutes, proving that he had regained his fitness.
"The
last three years have been a learning curve for me," he told Sky Sports.
"I could never have anticipated myself being in that position which was
trying to make the most of a difficult situation.
"There
was a lot of frustration but I met a lot of wonderful people along the way that
I would probably have never met, so I can't say it was all bad."
Hargreaves,
30, made just 39 appearances in four years before being released by Manchester
United at the end of last season.
He last
scored in April 2008 when he hit the winner for United in a 2-1 victory over
Arsenal, but within six months a series of injuries left him on the sidelines
and with grave doubts about him ever resurrecting his career.
He joined
City last month after putting a video on YouTube showing he was over the worst
of the problems that have blighted his career.
After the
match Mancini praised him, telling Sky: "I am happy for Owen because he
played well without any problem. He scored a fantastic goal and is a fantastic
player, who can become a very important for us.
"He
hasn't had any problems in the last three weeks. At the moment his knee is
fine. We said before the match we would give him between 45 and 60 minutes. As
it turned out, he was okay for 60
Roberto
Mancini's wrapped up their victory with a second from Mario Balotelli after 38
minutes to take their place in the last 16.
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