It was expected to be a comfortable afternoon for the English Premier League champions, and it was exactly that. Goals from Aleksandr Kolarov, Sergio Aguero and James Milner helped Manchester City to a 3-0 victory against Sunderland at the Etihad.
The win took Roberto Mancini's side to second, one point behind league leaders Chelsea, who are scheduled to face Norwich City later.
It was quite comfortable for City all the way, with Sunderland, who have just scored five goals all season, rarely threatening the home side's goal. Kolarov got the ball rolling with a wonderful free kick.
From a position on the left of the box, where it would have been easier for a right-footed striker to hit the target, Kolarov bent a wonderful free kick, giving goalkeeper Simon Mignolet no chance in the fifth minute.
City had a couple of half-chances in the rest of the half to increase the lead, but neither side really threatened the goal, as the game went into half-time at 1-0.
The second period saw a more invigorated City side come onto the park. Yaya Toure was the first to test Mignolet, a stinging drive off a nice pass from David Silva, palmed away by the Sunderland keeper.
Off the ensuing corner, Micah Richards, making his comeback from injury, thought he had increased the lead. His initial header off the corner, rebounded kindly back to the defender off Jack Colback; however the resulting goalward bound strike was cleared off the line by an alert Danny Rose.
Sunderland almost got back to level terms soon after off the only real attack from the away side. Steven Fletcher's header was well saved by Joe Hart, but the goal would not have counted anyway, even if the ball had gone in, with the referee's assistant raising the flag for offside.
Mario Balotelli, who endured a frustrating afternoon, missed a tap-in before being substituted for Aguero. That proved to be a good move, as the Argentine striker got on the end of a slick City move to make it 2-0.
Silva, who had a very good game, played through Kolarov, whose zipped-in cross was nicely side-footed by Aguero at the near post on the hour.
Carlos Tevez had a typically hard working game, and deserved a goal for his efforts, but saw his strike go wide after being put through on goal. Silva then should have made it 3-0, but struck the crossbar with the goalkeeper out of position.
As the game neared its end, Milner bulged the scoreline, with a free kick, deflected off Craig Garnder, finding the net.