Two goals from Sergio Aguero have helped Manchester City to a 4-1 victory against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
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After seeing an early Jack Rodwell shot cleared off the line, Sunderland edged ahead of the Premier League champions when Pablo Zabaleta's attempted challenge on Connor Wickham resulted in the ball ricocheting off the striker and into the net.
However, it took just two minutes for City to get back on level terms through Aguero, who drove towards the Sunderland defence before firing the ball into the bottom corner for his 18th of the season.
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That equaliser gave City the confidence to express themselves in the North-East and after Jesus Navas had failed to find the corner with a low drive, Manuel Pellegrini's side took the lead when Stevan Jovetic picked up Aguero's flick before finishing past former City stopper Costel Pantilimon.
Santiago Vergini almost netted Sunderland's second in added-on time but Dedryck Boyata, who was replacing Vincent Kompany, managed to get his body in the way on the line.
The beginning of the second half saw Yaya Toure curl marginally wide from distance but it took just 10 minutes after the restart for City to establish a two-goal margin.
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Zabaleta combined neatly with Samir Nasri before taking the return pass of his teammate and clipping the ball over Pantilimon from inside the penalty area.
That effort gave City full control at the Stadium of Light and after the match had entered the final quarter, they confirmed the three points when James Milner's cross was met by Aguero, who made no mistake in guiding the ball into the corner.
City eased down during the final 15 minutes, with Pellegrini handing a Premier League debut to Jose Angel Pozo, and although they never threatened a fifth, the Chilean coach will be delighted to see his team remain six points behind leaders Chelsea.
Darren Plant
