The fifth-round Kenilworth Road headlines may have been deservedly hogged by Erling Haaland after his remarkable five-goal heroics.
But there was so much else to admire about City’s display – not least another accomplished performance by Croatian international Kovacic.
With Rodrigo afforded a welcome break on the bench, Kovacic was entrusted with the key holding midfield role and produced a superb, mature display, providing an extra protective bulwark for City’s backline and keeping the City engine room motoring with some precise, crisp passes.
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Another fine 90 minutes was then capped by a quite superb finish 18 minutes from time – his second goal since joining City from Chelsea last summer – and one which wrapped up an exhilarating statement of intent from the cup holders.
And for Dickov, one of our special guests on the latest edition of Matchday Live, it was further confirmation of the 29-year-old’s all-round quality.
“I thought he was really, really good at Bournemouth on Saturday and again at Luton,” Dickov declared.
“With Rodri not being there, he just sat in front of the back four and kept things ticking over and broke up play.
“And when you are a player like that you get so much more appreciation from your team-mates than what you possibly do from the outside.
“The goal too was fantastic. Great touch, great feet, great technique and it was past the goalkeeper before he knew it.
“I’m a huge fan and I’ve said that since we saw him in pre-season.
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“He’s a top, top player.”
Dickov’s warm words of praise for Kovacic were echoed by former City keeper Nicky Weaver, his fellow special guest on Tuesday night’s show.
Weaver also believes that Kovacic’s display against the Hatters once again illustrated why he is the perfect team player.
“He’s a player that I think that players who play with him really appreciate. He does a lot of the simple things well,” Weaver pointed out.
“He links the play up and he’s a terrific player and it was a great, great finish and he’ll get a bit of recognition for that.
“The goal was fantastic finish. It had a bit of whip and bend.
“It wasn’t right in the corner, but it was almost past Tim Krul before he could react to it.”
