Man City 4 - Aston Villa 0

Mario Balotelli did his best to prove to manager Roberto Mancini that he is his No 1 striker as his stunning goal helped Manchester City on their way to a crushing win over Aston Villa which handed them the outright leadership of the Barclays Premier League. 

Given the chance to lead the line for a second straight game, the 21-year-old, a £24million signing from Inter Milan last summer, thrived on the responsibility and his sumptuous first-half overhead kick brought his side to life after a sterile opening. With Villa's resistance broken, Adam Johnson, Vincent Kompany and James Milner added second-half goals and Owen Hargreaves came on for his Premier League debut on a near-perfect afternoon for City, who pulled two points clear of cross-city rivals United ahead of next weekend's Manchester derby. Stephen Warnock netted a consolation for Villa.

Balotelli's goal was complemented by an industrious performance all over the pitch, reminiscent of his showing in the 4-0 win over Blackburn before the international break, with the Italian finally starting to look a more mature performer. Having been relegated to a bit-part role owing to the form of City's other strikers and his own on-and off-field controversies, Balotelli is perhaps one of the few to benefit from the ongoing saga surrounding Carlos Tevez - the Argentinian missing again as his club continue to deal with his alleged refusal to play against Bayern Munich.

And with eight-goal Sergio Aguero injured and Edin Dzeko, Samir Nasri and David Silva all on the bench as Mancini made four changes, Balotelli had another chance to impress and took it, as Villa lost their unbeaten start to the season at the eighth hurdle.