Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, left, competes with West Ham United’s Mohamed Diame during their English Premier League soccer match at Upton Park, London, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
MANCHESTER, England — Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez scored two goals each in the second half on Saturday as Manchester City swept aside Aston Villa 5-0 to go top of the English Premier League.
David Silva put City ahead in the 43rd minute and the defending champions then turned the game into a rout after the break. Aguero netted a penalty in the 54th and Tevez then converted his own spot kick in the 65th to put the game beyond doubt.
The Argentine duo continued to lead the attack, with Aguero making it 4-0 in the 67th and Tevez rounding off the win in the 74th.
The victory lifted unbeaten City one point above Manchester United, who slumped to a 1-0 loss at Norwich later Saturday.
City controlled the early stages but did not create a serious chance aside from a scuffed shot by Aguero which bounced awkwardly and Tevez headed over.
After seeing very little of the ball, Villa finally launched a significant attack in the 12th minute but Vincent Kompany blocked a shot from Christian Benteke.
City goalkeeper Joe Hart reacted brilliantly to produce a one-handed save as Kompany almost sliced a Matt Lowton cross into his own net, and then kept out a header from Benteke after the Belgian outjumped Matija Nastasic to reach an Enda Stevens cross.
There was little quality about City’s opener when it arrived two minutes before the interval.
Villa failed to deal with Nasri’s corner but Tevez could not connect properly with a shot. The ball bobbled dangerously inside the goal area and Silva reacted quickest to tuck home from close range.
Aguero doubled the lead after contentious penalty, after the assistant referee flagged for an offense as Silva swung in a corner — apparently a handball by Andreas Weimann.
There was little debate over the second penalty, however, as Barry Bannan was penalized for another handball after 65 minutes, and Tevez sent Guzan the wrong way.
Things got worse almost immediately for Villa as Hart launched a counterattack and Aguero burst into the area and finished inside the near post from a tight angle.
He was then taken off for Edin Dzeko, who soon found Samir Nasri and the Frenchman’s ball across the area was tapped in from six yards by Tevez.