Remi Garde's side held out until half-time but could not keep Manuel Pellegrini's men at bay for long as the hosts picked up a win they badly needed to stay alive in the title race
On the back of three consecutive Premier League defeats that had left Manchester City's title hopes hanging by a thread, the visit of Aston Villa was regarded as the perfect opportunity for Manuel Pellegrini's side to reverse their fortunes. So it proved.
City have so often been frustrated by well disciplined, hard-working teams this season and their two impressive victories - in the Champions League and League Cup final - that punctuated those three league defeats required top-quality performances. But Villa's best efforts were no match for Pellegrini's men on Saturday.
The Premier League's bottom club held out until half time, with Brad Guzan making two fine saves from Sergio Aguero, and although there was frustration at what turned into a lackustre first-half display from the home side, the floodgates soon opened.
Yaya Toure fired in the first before Aguero doubled the lead via a lucky deflection off his shin. After that it was only a question of how many City would score and after Aguero added his second - finishing off an excellent move with a brilliant finish - Raheem Sterling made it 4-0 as Remi Garde's strugglers floundered.
Aguero missed the opportunity to get a hat-trick when he struck a penalty against the post, and although the final 24 minutes passed without further goals, this was exactly what City needed.
Job done - simple as that
Posted by Sam Lee on Saturday, 5 March 2016
With Tottenham and Arsenal drawing in the north London derby, Pellegrini's side have closed the gap on two of their title rivals already.
Too often this season City have not been good enough, but they were not required to be particularly good here. Villa are destined for the Championship and this was a case of the home side getting the job done.
A victory was all that was needed and it has been delivered in comfortable circumstances. City now have a full week before their next game, the very winnable trip to Norwich City. They have the chance to win their first back-to-back matches since October - but the club's fans will know by now not to take much for granted this season.
Whether City can summon the spirit of 2012 and 2014 to roar back and win the title in unlikely circumstances remains to be seen, and those particular credentials will not be tested on afternoons like this.
But they have done what they needed to do and will now look ahead to a run of fixtures that throws up clashes against Norwich, Manchester United, West Brom and Bournemouth.
The defeat at Anfield on Wednesday left City with very little wiggle room in the title race but they have responded as well as could be expected here at the Etihad. Onwards and upwards... they will hope.
- Goal