Manchester City smash Aston Villa to go top

Manchester City have returned to the top of the Premier League table with an emphatic home win over Aston Villa.

© PA Photos

Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez both netted braces, while David Silva scored his first Premier League goal since April.

Despite dominating the match right from the kickoff, it took City until the 43rd minute to break the deadlock.

Villa failed to clear Samir Nasri's corner kick and the ball eventually dropped to Silva, who poked home from five yards.

© PA Photos

City extended their lead early in the second half, courtesy of two contentious penalty kicks which were both awarded for hand ball.

First, Andreas Weimann was penalised and Aguero converted with expert precision.

Moments later, Barry Bannan was the guilty party and Tevez made no mistake from 12 yards.

Aguero then made it four with a deflected solo effort, before Tevez completed the scoring with a close range tap-in 16 minutes from time.

© PA Photos

Defeat for Villa sees them drop into the relegation zone.