Manchester City kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea by earning a 4-1 victory against Sunderland this evening.
Connor Wickham opened the scoring for the Black Cats, but goals from Sergio Aguero and Stevan Jovetic gave City the lead at the break.
Pablo Zabaleta chipped in a third shortly after half time, before Aguero sealed the win with his second of the match.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the events that unfolded at the Stadium of Light.
Match Statistics:
SUNDERLAND:
Shots 8
On Target 2
Possession 35%
Corners 2
Fouls 9
MANCHESTER CITY:
Shots 15
On Target 4
Possession 65%
Corners 0
Fouls 8
Was the result fair?
There can be no doubts that Manchester City deserved to win this evening. They were by far the better side and produced one of their best performances of the season. Sunderland had actually started the game well and had a couple of decent chances to score before Wickham found the net. That goal seemed to spark City into life and it did not take Aguero too long to equalise. From that moment it was one-way traffic and the only question seemed to be how many goals City would score.
Sunderland's performance
The Black Cats would have gone into the game full of confidence after their goalless draw against Chelsea at the weekend and they very nearly took the lead inside of five minutes when Jack Rodwell had a shot cleared off the line by Zabaleta. They were then able to go ahead in rather fortuitous circumstances when Wickham scored after Zabaleta's attempted clearance had rebounded off him and into the net.
That was as good as it would get for Sunderland, who were pegged back less than two minutes later. They never fully recovered and they kept giving the ball away cheaply, allowing their opponents to keep attacking them and find the net three more times. Gus Poyet will have been disappointed at the way his side defended, but he will admit that they were outclassed by a much better side.
Manchester City's performance
City showed their title credentials this evening with a well-polished display. It may have taken them a little while to get going, but once they got into their stride they were hard to stop. Their midfield were in complete control, with Yaya Toure producing an inspired performance from the centre of the pitch and Jesus Navas constantly getting free down the right and supplying a string of dangerous crosses.
It was in attack where they were at their most impressive, as Aguero and Jovetic linked up brilliantly on a number of occasions, most notably for the second goal which was finished with aplomb by the Montenegrin. It is Aguero though who will take many of the plaudits, as he fired in the first with a wonderful strike, before comfortably slotting in his second late on to take his tally in the Premier League to 14 goals.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Sergio Aguero: It is hard to imagine just where City would be without the goals of Aguero. He scored his team's first goal out of nothing at a crucial time in the match and netted again late on. He almost scored a stunning solo goal with a run from inside his own half and looked a danger all night long.
Biggest gaffe
Sunderland's defence were not at their best, but there wasn't a huge individual error that led to any of the visitors' goals. Zabaleta may have got the blame for playing the ball against Wickham for the opening strike of the match, but he more than made up for it with a fine finish in the second half.
Referee's performance
Craig Pawson had quite an easy night and was not called upon to make any controversial decisions, as both teams looked to play the game the right way. He did have to hand out a couple of bookings, but they were for clumsy rather than malicious challenges.
What next?
Sunderland: The Black Cats return to league action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Liverpool.
Manchester City: City are also in action on Saturday and will host Everton in the evening kickoff at the Etihad.
Alex Meyers
