Manchester City have brushed aside Crystal Palace 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium to reclaim their place at the top of the Premier League table.
Sergio Aguero scored either side of half time and set up a third late on, as an at-times-inconsistent Citizens side returned to winning ways by cruising past their sorry opponents.
The win takes City above both Arsenal and Leicester City to the summit, ahead of the Foxes' clash against Aston Villa in Saturday's late kickoff.
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It was a laboured showing from City for large parts of the first half, particularly in the opening quarter of the game as they struggled to find any real momentum.
The best opportunity of a disjointed start to the match fell the way of the visitors, but Damien Delaney could only head the ball straight at Joe Hart to push away with a little over two minutes on the clock.
As both sides continued to probe away at a snowy Etihad, it was the Citizens who found the all-important opener through Fabian Delph's long-range attempt.
Delph made good contact with his shot from 25 yards out, yet it will go down as another Wayne Hennessey error - just a few days on from a similar howler at Villa Park - as the Welshman allowed the ball to squirm through his body.
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That breakthrough provided City with the spark they needed to push on and, after having a slim penalty shout turned down, Aguero bagged his first ever Premier League goal against Palace with a similar attempt from long range.
Hennessey was this time left wrong-footed by a big deflection off Scott Dann, putting the two-time champions in strong control at the interval, with their league-high 11th goal from outside of the box this term.
Manuel Pellegrini, who made five changes to his side following their rare home stalemate last time out, was hit by an injury blow early in the second half when Aleksander Kolarov was stretchered off with what appeared to be a calf injury.
Palace were simply unable to find any real rhythm to their play following the restart, however, and it was a case of leaders City simply remaining professional for the remainder of the contest and picking off their opponents.
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After a tedious spell in proceedings, the Citizens finally made certain of the points thanks to Aguero's second of the afternoon at the end of a fluid passing move.
Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, substitute Yaya Toure and Aguero were all involved in the attack, which culminated in the Argentina international tucking away at the back post for goal number 13 of the campaign.
Despite remaining in first gear for large parts, Pellegrini's charges were never truly troubled for the remainder bar a swerving Yohan Cabaye effort that had Hart rushing across goal.
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Palace, now without a goal - and indeed a win - in their last five Premier League outings, saw things go from bad to worse late on when Silva added his name to the scoresheet for the first time since the opening weekend of the season.
Aguero played a key part in the goal, leading a counter-attacking charge and laying the ball on a plate for his teammate to end the scoring on an afternoon to forget for Alan Pardew's men.
Palace's heaviest defeat of the campaign leaves them in eighth place, while for City this may well be the victory that truly kick-starts their season ahead of a gruelling few weeks.
Daniel Lewis
