City take top spot with win

Manchester City took the top spot in the Premier League table after an impressive 4-1 rout of Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium.

A Mario Balotelli bicycle kick and strikes from Adam Johnson, Vincent Kompany and James Milner ensured City all three points and gave them a two point lead over Manchester United.

Aleksander Kolarov, Pablo Zabaleta, David Silva and Sergio Aguero were all removed from the starting line up and replaced with Micah Richards, Gael Clichy, Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry.

Balotelli was given yet another chance to lead the front line with eight-goal Sergio Aguero currently injured.

City's best chance in the first half came in the 26th minute, when Balotelli tried to curl in a shot from the wing which bounced right in front of Given, forcing him to turn it away.

However Balotelli would have the last laugh only two minutes later after a Johnson corner was chested down by Richards into Balotelli's path. The youngster hit an acrobatic bicycle kick 6 yards from goal which flew into the net, leaving Given flat-footed.

The score remained 1-0 at half time.

However, City scored almost instantly after the restart. Adam Johnson in the 47th minute capitalized on a mistake by Warnock and slotted in a calm finish from the right hand side of the box into the the bottom left hand corner of Given's goal.

Villa were reeling under the pressure, and it was just a matter of time before City broke them again. Another Johnson corner in the 52nd minute saw Vincent Kompany rise the highest, heading the ball across the face of goal to make it 3-0.

The Lions did score a consolation goal in the 65th minute, when Gabriel Agbonlahor's cross was not picked up by any of the City defenders. The ball fell to Warnock, who struck the ball powerfully into the roof of the net to make it 3-1.

The Citizens' day was not all perfect, with Micah Richards being substituted after picking up a head injury.

However this move barely made a difference in City's game play, with James Milner curling in a superb effort from the edge of the box into the top right hand corner, after being teed up by Gareth Barry in the 71st minute.

The win will give City a welcome confidence boost, as they enter next week's Manchester derby as league leaders.