Manchester City kept their ailing title hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad this afternoon.
The match started in controversial fashion as Neil Swarbrick showed a straight red card to Gareth McAuley inside two minutes, despite Craig Dawson being the player who committed the foul in question.
City took full advantage of their numerical superiority, and Wilfried Bony's first goal for the club was later added to by Fernando and David Silva to hand the hosts a comfortable win.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the one-sided affair.
Match statistics
MAN CITY
Shots: 43
On target: 16
Possession: 78%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 6
WEST BROM
Shots: 3
On target: 0
Possession: 22%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 5
Was the result fair?
Just look at those statistics. Even the most ardent West Brom fan will come away from this match thankful that they only conceded the three goals. It was surely one of the most one-sided games in Premier League history as City completely dominated the ball from start to finish, helped largely by the early red card. It was always likely to be a case of attack vs. defence for much of the game, but McAuley's dismissal exacerbated that.
Quite how City only managed the three goals, they will not know. Sergio Aguero endured a frustrating afternoon as he failed to get on the scoresheet, while the champions also hit the woodwork twice in the second half. West Brom didn't have a single shot in the first half, but improved very slightly in the second and could have even nicked a goal had Saido Berahino not missed a sitter from just a couple of yards out - the Baggies' only chance of the game.
There was only ever one side in it, however, and it was the easiest victory City will have had for a long time. West Brom were in damage limitation mode from the start following the red card, and only conceding three goals may well be seen as a job well done considering how little of the game they had.
Man City's performance
Having lost four of their last five matches coming into this one, today's game turned out to be a perfect one for City. Manuel Pellegrini made seven changes to the side that lost to Barcelona in midweek so fatigue may not have been an issue anyway, but this was a simple stroll in the park for the champions. They enjoyed utter domination from the first whistle until the last and will be delighted to get back to winning ways in such comfortable fashion.
They were, of course, helped by the red card early on, and for a while after the dismissal they struggled to break through against 10 men. However, Bony's goal opened the floodgates a little and the hosts got in behind the Baggies defence far more often after that. The only downside to this performance is that they weren't able to get more than three goals, with Aguero, Frank Lampard and Silva among those to squander some very good chances to add to the goal tally.
This was Pellegrini's 100th game in charge of City and you'd do well to find an easier one. They were almost caught out when Berahino hit the crossbar from close range and would have been livid had they not kept a clean sheet, but they got that stroke of luck in the midst of an otherwise domineering display. The title is still Chelsea's to lose, but they have at least kept their hopes alive by moving to within three points of the leaders today.
West Brom's performance
It was always going to be difficult for the Baggies going into this match, but the early red card left them with a nigh-on impossible task. They were winless in nine away games going into this one and never looked remotely like ending that poor run on the road. The dismissal did go to the wrong man, but it was the right decision to produce the red and, therefore, Swarbrick's mistake didn't really change the course of the match.
Having gone down to 10 men, West Brom packed everyone behind the ball and tried to make it difficult for City to play through them. They managed that for a while, but they soon gave in to the relentless pressure and the game was over as a contest before half time when City got their second. The Baggies didn't have a single shot in the opening 45 minutes and even a touch inside the opposition half was a rarity.
Berahino could have made things interesting had he converted his side's only chance of the game with the score still 2-1, but that would have really flattered West Brom. The visitors did well to limit City to three goals in the end but, in truth, most of the goals were of their own making. The second and third came as a result of poor defending, while there was also a stroke of luck about the first. Add to that the fact that the red card came about from a McAuley error initially, and Pulis may be left wondering what might have been.
Sports Mole's man of the match
David Silva: City rarely needed to get out of second gear this afternoon, but Silva ensured that they were cruising in style. The Spaniard ran the show and created a host of chances of his side despite being up against two walls of white shirts. He capped off a fine personal display with an opportunistic goal as he turned Stevan Jovetic's effort home.
Biggest gaffe
Take your pick. McAuley's back-pass in the opening minutes allowed Bony to nip in and draw the foul from Dawson that brought about the red card. The second goal saw Jonas Olsson and Boaz Myhill both fail to deal with a loose ball in the area, while the defending for the third was poor too. Add to that Berahino's miss from just a couple of yards out and you have an error-strewn match.
It would have to be a pretty special gaffe to top all of them, but Swarbrick provided that with the talking point of the entire match. The referee was right to award a free kick and red card after less than two minutes when Dawson brought Bony down as the last man, but he sent off the wrong player in McAuley. His only saving grace is that it didn't change the course of the match, but it was still a poor mistake from the official.
Referee performance
Swarbrick will dominate the headlines for that case of mistaken identity, which he has since admitted to. Aside from that error it was a very straightforward afternoon for the official, with no further cards, but the focus will be on his wrongful dismissal of McAuley.
What next?
Man City: The Premier League takes a break for international duty next week, so City are not in action again until Monday, April 6 when they face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
West Brom: The Baggies, meanwhile, host Queens Park Rangers in their first match after the international break.
Barney Corkhill
