Manchester City secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over West Ham United to move seven points clear in the race for Champions League qualification.

James Collins's comical own goal after 18 minutes helped them into a 1-0 lead at Eastlands following a sloppy start by the visitors.

Sergio Aguero then started and finished a counter-attack on 36 minutes to give them a cushion, and it proved enough following a goalless second half.

Here, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains with its player ratings.

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Goal

Joe Hart: Denied Cole in the first half and stood up well to thwart Nolan in a one-on-one late on. Not much to do overall, but did it well. (7/10)

Defence

Pablo Zabaleta: Spent most of the game in West Ham's half but added very little to the attack. Occasionally struggled when Jarvis was subbed on. (5/10)

Martin Demichelis: Solid overall but did concede possession on one occasion that led to Cole almost scoring in the first half. Quiet afternoon. (6/10)

Eliaquim Mangala: Still has big question marks against him after a big-money summer move and, despite a good performance today, he had very little to do by virtue of Cole's struggles up front. (7/10)

Aleksandar Kolarov: Did not have much to do defensively, and his usually-lethal dead-ball delivery failed him more times than not in the final third. (5/10)

Midfield

Fernando: One of those 'thou-shall-not-pass' performances from the Brazilian, who barely put a foot wrong all afternoon. Very good display. (7/10)

Frank Lampard: Would have wanted to score against his former club but did not look at his best today. Linked up well with others, but struggled in other areas. (5/10)

David Silva: City's composer hit a few bum notes but was still perhaps their best player until his exit following a nasty head injury in the second half. (7/10)

Yaya Toure: Pellegrini urged him to step up his performances recently, to which he responded with a relatively average display given a man of his talents. (6/10)

Jesus Navas: Often accused of being hit and miss, the Spaniard was a bit of both today. Got an assist for both goals but, other than that, was not as involved as he would have liked. (7/10)

Attack

Sergio Aguero: Frequently tormented West Ham's defence. Got one goal, but could have had a hat-trick on another day if not for seeing several of his shots get blocked. (7/10)

Substitutes

Samir Nasri: Replaced Silva and got involved, but City's attack suffered significantly with the substitution. (5/10)

Edin Dzeko: Should have had added a third late on but fluffed his lines. Little impact overall. (5/10)

Fernandinho: Added a bit of energy to the midfield at a time when West Ham were threatening a consolation. (6/10)

Goal

Adrian: Maybe could have done a little better to prevent Aguero's goal, but could do little about Collins's own goal. Not much to do other than that. (6/10)

Defence

Carl Jenkinson: Did very little wrong or right in a average performance from the on-loan Arsenal right-back. (5/10)

James Collins: Opened the scoring with a comical own goal but, to his credit, bounced back with a couple of fine blocks to prevent certain goals. (6/10)

Winston Reid: Said that West Ham have a bright future recently, and they do if he is involved. He was excellent throughout. (7/10)

Aaron Cresswell: Endured a testing first half in which Navas had the beating of him, but looked slightly better after the break. (5/10)

Midfield

Stewart Downing: Conceded possession in the build-up to City's second. Poor performance overall. (5/10)

Alex Song: Treated the ball like a game of hot potato in the first half, refusing to hang on to it regardless of it finding a blue shirt. (4/10)

Mark Noble: Far more economic in possession than some of his teammates but was still unable to do much good with the ball when he had it. (5/10)

Cheikhou Kouyate: Should have been sent off for a wild elbow on Silva that left him on the deck for eight minutes. (4/10)

Enner Valencia: West Ham improved when he came to life, but it happened far too late. Nearly scored one of the goals of the season, though. (6/10)

Attack

Carlton Cole: Only had one chance throughout his 66-minute spell, but Hart comfortably saved. Looked isolated at times as the Hammers' spearhead. (4/10)

Substitutes

Kevin Nolan: Should have reduced the arrears, but missed the one-on-one with Hart. Decent impact at both ends of the field other than that. (6/10)

Matt Jarvis: Showed West Ham what they were missing with a very decent cameo on their left wing. (6/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan