The teams warm up in front of 3,994 at the City Ground

Nottingham Forest came up against a vastly superior Manchester City side in their Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie, losing 8-0 at the City Ground.

3,994 were in attendance in the Brian Clough stand to see Forest face off against some of Europe’s finest.

With City putting out a strong side, Forest knew they would be in for a long afternoon when some mazy work from Lauren Hemp led to a cut back which was swept home by Caroline Weir inside two minutes.

The Reds will have hoped to keep the difference to just one at the break until Khadija Shaw was left free at the back post to nod home a corner before a hopeful ball over the top was prodded home by Filippa Angeldahl.

Forest had a convincing penalty shout turned down as City skipper Alex Greenwood made a rash challenge in the box, but to no avail.

A combination of poor finishing in the final third from the Citizens, dogged goal-line defending from centre backs Steggles and Cook, and some great saves from keeper Emily Batty, ensured that the scoreline was kept to 3-0 at the break.

Forest lined up with five at the back and were always up against it with international stars Hemp and Janine Beckie coming down either flank.

After the break, Forest had two decent chances to run at the City back four who had seemingly relaxed, but could not outrun Ruby Mace and Lucy Bronze.

As Caroline Weir continued to pull the strings in midfield, her new partner in the centre of the park, Georgia Stanway benefited to the tune of two goals to take her into the lead as Man City’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Stanway added her third in injury time, after Shaw added her second, and Hemp tucked away at the back post chance to earn reward for her travails.

It was a professional job for the former champions and six-time runners up, and it felt like overkill when, at 5-0, they were able to introduce Barcelona legend Vicky Losada to the mix.

A professional job from Manchester City means that Forest depart in the fourth round but they can be proud of appearing at this stage and sharing the pitch with some bona fide legends of the game.

Manager Andy Cook, who was happy with his side’s progress, said: “We enjoyed the day, the result is what it is, [but] hopefully it adds to the profile of the club.”