Manchester City made clear their intentions of reclaim the English Premier League trophy this season after a sumptuous 6-0 win over title rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Beaten 1-0 by Sunderland in their last outing prior to the international break, City did not look back after Jesus Navas gave them the lead after only 14 seconds for the fastest-ever Premier League goal.
The Spanish winger deftly lobbed Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris after the Frenchman had gifted the ball to Sergio Aguero with a loose kick, and an own goal from Sandro in the 34th minute made it 2-0.
Aguero claimed a brace either side of half-time, tucking away centres from Navas and Yaya Toure, to take his tally of goals to 14 in his last 11 appearances.
Alvaro Negredo added a fifth in the 55th minute, flummoxing Michael Dawson with an audacious turn and lashing a left-foot shot past Lloris, before Navas completed the rout in injury time.
“It is impossible to play better than today. We are working to have one style of playing and to continue in the same way,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini told fifa.com.
“We’re thinking just about each game. Now we play in the Champions League on Wednesday against Viktoria Pilsen, and after we will see what happens with other teams, how many points they drop, and I’m absolutely sure we will also win matches away.”
Victory preserved City’s 100 per cent home record in the league this season and having annihilated Norwich City 7-0 in their last fixture at the Etihad, they have now scored 13 goals in their last two home games.
Pellegrini’s side moved above Southampton into the top four, six points below leaders Arsenal, while Spurs slipped to ninth place. Andre Villas-Boas’s men had only conceded six goals all season prior to their trip to Manchester and although they are only two points below City, they have now gone three games without victory.
“Everything went wrong for us, every opportunity was a goal and we paid a heavy price, too much for what we deserved,” Villas-Boas told fifa.com. “City were excellent, and we were extremely poor. We have to be ashamed of ourselves, and react to a defeat like this.”