Manchester City have given their outside Premier League title hopes a major boost by seeing off basement boys Aston Villa 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens were made to toil in a goalless first half, before Sergio Aguero led a goalscoring charge to cut the gap on leaders Leicester City to seven points ahead of the Foxes' evening fixture.
Villa now find themselves nine points from safety at the other end of the table, meanwhile, having seen their barren run of form against City continue this afternoon with another heavy loss.
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The first chance for the Citizens came 13 minutes in when Aguero brought down a lofted ball over the top, before cutting inside on his left and forcing Brad Guzan into palming the ball over the bar from close range.
City's best opening of the first half fell Wilfried Bony's way, though, as he got in behind the Villa backline only to fire wide with his first-time attempt seven yards from goal.
That chance was created by Gael Clichy down the left, who proved to be an influential figure time and again for his side due to the amount of space afforded to him in attacking areas.
Guzan was again called into action a few minutes later, this time thwarting Aguero's half-volley attempt, before the 21-goal striker linked up with the returning Bony and sent a shot inches wide of the target.
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Aguero's near miss almost proved to be a turning point in a half dominated by the hosts, as Villa went up the other end and fired in their first shot through Jordan Ayew, which Joe Hart got down well to keep out at full stretch.
Manuel Pellegrini's men continued to toil in the final stages of a frustrating opening 45 minutes, but the Villans stood firm at the back - led by ex-City favourite Micah Richards on his 200th appearance - to see the half through.
It did not take long for the two-time Premier League champions to break down their opponents in the second half, however, as Aguero and Yaya Toure found a way through within the space of five minutes.
Toure was first to pick out the bottom corner, making the most of Aguero's work on the right before being played in by David Silva five yards out to open the scoring.
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Villa then fell apart, with Richards sliding in to clear a cross only for the ball to ricochet off Aguero to gift the forward the easiest of finishes for goal number five in five against the doomed West Midlands outfit
The Argentina international soon further extended that impressive record by tucking away at the end of a superb piece of link-up play with Silva, who himself reached a milestone with Premier League assist number 56.
To make matters worse for Villa, now with just the one win in eight league outings, they had to deal with the fresh legs of Raheem Sterling from the bench for the final half-hour.
It took the Englishman just two minutes to make an impact after firing away a shot that Guzan did well to help over the bar, yet there was no denying him the second time around as he found the net from five yards out.
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A low Jesus Navas cross somehow found its way through the box to a grateful Sterling, who made the most of some terrible defending from the visiting side with goal number four of the match.
Villa were given a reprieve of sorts 18 minutes from time when substitute Kelechi Iheanacho, who scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup meeting between these sides in January, was clipped by Ciaran Clark moments after coming on.
Aguero blasted the spot kick against the right-hand post, missing out on a hat-trick and allowing Villa to compose themselves at last to see out the remainder of the match with little incident.
City can now look up the table following a three-game losing streak in the league, while Villa's season of woe continues at the foot of the table.
Daniel Lewis
