Bolton Wanderers advanced from the fifth round, beating Fulham 1-0 to set up a quarterfinal against Premier League rivals Birmingham City.
Arsenal were also hoping to reach the sixth round by beating Leyton Orient on Sunday, with the winner facing a visit to Manchester United.
City won in some style in the end at Eastlands, with Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Micah Richards scoring late goals to add to two Patrick Vieira headers earlier in the game.
City, transformed by the money of Abu Dhabi billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour and on course for their first trophy in 35 years, face Aston Villa in the fifth round.
Notts County, the League One (third division) side, started the brighter and were tougher opponents than the scoreline suggests.
Karl Hawley almost put County ahead when his curling shot hit Joe Hart’s left-hand post after 28 minutes, but thereafter City wrested control.
Vieira, who played in Arsenal’s FA Cup-winning teams of 1998, 2002 and 2005, headed their first two goals from corners, before Tevez rounded keeper Stuart Nelson after a breakaway in the 84th minute to make it 3-0.
Dzeko headed City’s fourth five minutes later before Richards completed the scoring with a thumping hooked shot in the 89th minute.
“You have to give Notts County credit because for the first 15 or 20 minutes they did very well,” Vieira told ITV. “In the end we are very happy to have won and thank God I scored those two headers. With the height in our team we should score more from free-kicks and corners.”
Bolton maintained their hopes of a first FA Cup final appearance since they last won the Cup in 1958 by ending Fulham’s interest at Craven Cottage.
Ivan Klasnic scored the only goal after 19 minutes, and the highlight of the day for the home side was the return of Bobby Zamora as a substitiute in the second half, for his first appearance since breaking a leg last September.
The draw for the quarterfinals was made on Sunday, with Stoke City paired against West Ham United or Burnley, who meet on Monday; Manchester City or Villa to face Everton or Reading; Birmingham meeting Bolton; and United hosting Arsenal or Orient. The quarterfinal ties will be played on March 12 and 13.
Pato grabs win for AC Milan
Substitute Alexandre Pato netted a superb winner after Robinho had opened the scoring using the top of his arm as Serie A leaders AC Milan ground out a precious 2-1 win at Chievo on Sunday.
While Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was mightily relieved to win on the 25th anniversary of Silvio Berlusconi taking over the club, under fire AS Roma boss Claudio Ranieri was further exposed after his side lost 4-3 at Genoa having been 3-0 up.
Sixth-placed Juventus, two points above fellow underachievers Roma, also had another day to forget after losing 2-0 at Lecce where goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was sent off early.
Milan’s Robinho struck on 25 minutes after dubiously controlling Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s knock-down and prodding home but a back-post header from Gelson Fernandes 16 minutes after the break looked to have given the mid-table hosts a draw.
Brazil’s Pato had other ideas and after replacing Antonio Cassano, he cut inside from the left, beat two defenders and scuffed in at the near post eight minutes from time.
Milan, wearing special white shirts to mark the occasion of Berlusconi’s anniversary, showed the same flaws which undermined them in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg defeat by Tottenham Hotspur but sheer determination won the day.
“The lads gave a great present to president Berlusconi,” Allegri told Sky. “Pato’s qualities are huge.”
Gennaro Gattuso remained as captain despite his violent altercation with Spurs assistant coach Joe Jordan on Tuesday and this time it was Chievo who lost their heads, Cesar being dismissed for a second booking late on.
Champions Inter Milan, with the help of another controversial goal from Andrea Ranocchia who appeared offside, beat Cagliari 1-0 on Saturday and now lie five behind Milan.
Lazio, in fourth, beat bottom side Bari 1-0 thanks to an early Hernanes goal on Sunday while their city rivals Roma were following Wednesday’s Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk with another horror show.
Headers from Philippe Mexes and Nicolas Burdisso put them 2-0 up at the break but as soon as Francesco Totti made it three, Genoa hit back through braces from Rodrigo Palacio and Alberto Paloschi to leave Ranieri’s job on the line with new club owners circling and fans protesting.
In other results, goal-shy duo Fiorentina and Sampdoria drew 0-0, Parma stopped the rot slighty with a 2-2 draw with Cesena and Udinese draw a rare blank in a 0-0 stalemate with Brescia.
Lille slips up as PSG stays in hunt
French leaders Lille lost 1-0 at Montpellier on Sunday to throw the title race open and Paris St Germain made sure they profited with a 3-0 win at Nice.
Lille’s game on the south coast was meandering to a goalless draw, with neither side managing to fashion a clear-cut chance, when Younes Belhanda struck on 84 minutes.
PSG moved to within four points of Lille in a congested top half of Ligue 1 after Ludovic Giuly, Guillaume Hoarau and Sylvain Armand netted against a woeful Nice.
