Premier League: Manchester City 5 Aston Villa 0

Manchester City romped to a 5-0 win over Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium on Saturday to put the pressure on city rivals Manchester United.

City had to rely on a goalmouth scramble to open the scoring two minutes before half-time when David Silva pounced on a loose ball inside the Villa penalty area to score his first goal of the season.

The second half was much more entertaining as Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez grabbed two goals each to secure an emphatic win that puts City on top of the Premier League table by a point, although Manchester United will reclaim the lead with a win over Norwich later on Saturday.

The hosts settled into the game very quickly and were controlling play nicely but struggled to find their way through the organised Villa defence.

However, with half-time looming they got the break they were looking for as Silva tapped home following a goalmouth scramble.

Sergio Aguero was the first to try and get on the end of Samir Nasri’s corner, Vincent Kompany had the second attempt and Carlos Tevez had a third before the ball broke for Silva who nipped in front of Matija Nastasic to score from close range.

As the second half began the home side carried on where they left off, controlling the play with crisp passing and plenty of movement, and nine minutes into the second they were rewarded with a second goal albeit following a controversial decision from the assistant referee.

Silva drifted in from the right hand side and played a perfect pass to Aguero but just as the Argentine was about to pull the trigger Ron Vlaar made a superb challenge to concede a corner. It was from the set piece that Andreas Weimann was adjudged to have handled the ball and a penalty was awarded. Aguero stepped up and made no mistake, beating Brad Guzan down to the goalkeeper’s left hand side.

Just when Paul Lambert thought things could not get any worse, they did as his side conceded another penalty from another handball, but this one was much clearer. Barry Bannan caught the ball with his arm as he slid in to tackle Sliva and referee Jon Moss had no hesitation to award the penalty. This time Tevez took the responsibility and he fired past Guzan.

Minutes later the score was 4-0 as Tevez released Aguero on the right hand side. He took on Enda Stevens and unleashed a shot from inside the area that was on target, and the deflection it took off the young full-back’s foot caused it to beat Guzan at his near post.

The rout was complete in the 74th minute as Tevez added his second following a flowing move from the home side. Substitute Edin Dzeko released Nasri on the left hand side of the penalty area and his low cross found the Argentine who had the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net.