With City coming off the back of a poor run of away form, they sought to take control of the game early and established a lead through Aleksandar Kolarov's free kick in the eighth minute.

While City had become a free-scoring unit, not having lost away in six weeks, West Ham came into the first leg on the back of a humiliating 5–0 defeat in the FA Cup against Championship team Nottingham Forest,[9] in the Premier League relegation zone, and with their strikers struggling for goals.

[10] The pace was set early in the first leg, as Touré lofted a ball from his own half all the way to Negredo in the London club's penalty area; the Spanish striker scored with a single touch, to give City the lead in the 12th minute.

Negredo earned his second after playing a neat one-two with Džeko through West Ham's defence, while Touré dribbled half the length of the pitch to record his first of the game and give City a three-goal cushion at the half-way mark.

The game was sealed in the 59th minute as Negredo weaved through the Hammers' defence before clipping the ball over the keeper even as the angle appeared to have been narrowed too far.

Trailing 2–0 with 15 minutes remaining, Jozy Altidore, Connor Wickham (2) and Adam Johnson scoring late goals to secure the win for Sunderland.

This game marked Kevin Ball's first win while in temporary charge of the Black Cats, following Paolo Di Canio's sacking.

[16] In the Fourth Round, Sunderland (now managed by Gus Poyet) defeated fellow Premier League team Southampton, again at the Stadium of Light, 2–1.

With penalties looming, Ki Sung-yueng scored two minutes from the final whistle to give Sunderland a 2–1 win and passage to the semi-finals.

In the first leg, the Black Cats battled to a 2–1 victory at the Stadium of Light; a Ryan Giggs own goal gave the home side the lead on the stroke of half time, Nemanja Vidić levelled for the visitors in the second half before Tom Cleverley fouled Adam Johnson in the box, and Borini converted the penalty.

Sunderland pressed for an equaliser, with substitute Steven Fletcher wasting a last-minute chance by failing to control the ball, before Jesús Navas finished off a swift City counter-attack in stoppage time to seal their first League Cup win since 1976.