Sergio Aguero scored twice as Manchester City eased to a 4-1 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium in the Premier League this evening.

Peter Crouch cancelled out the Argentine's opening strike, but James Milner restored the visitors' lead after the break before Aguero added a second and Samir Nasri completed the rout.

The result keeps Manuel Pellegrini's side seven points behind league leaders Chelsea, while Stoke remain 10th in the table.

Here, Sports Mole rates the individual performances of all the players involved this evening.

Goal

Asmir Begovic: The Stoke keeper was let down by some poor defending, and could do little to stop a well-taken penalty from Aguero, but maybe could have done better with the fourth goal. (4/10)

Defence

Phil Bardsley: Bardsley gave Aguero too much room in the run-up to the opening goal, letting the striker's finish go between his legs and leaving the keeper unable to see the danger. Did little to make amends later in the match. (3/10)

Marc Muniesa: The centre-back had a difficult job as David Silva spent most of the night trying to run through him, but the defender made some decent clearances. (5/10)

Geoff Cameron: Cameron showed some promise going forward, but got greedy while defending against Silva, eventually conceding a penalty which allowed the visitors to end the Stoke threat. (4/10)

Philipp Wollscheid: Wollscheid was the pick of the back four, making a number of vital challenges and blocks to keep the visitors at bay, particularly in the first half. (7/10)

Midfield

Glenn Whelan: After a bright first half, Whelan failed to close down when up against Fernandinho and Milner after the break, while he created little going forward. (5/10)

Marko Arnautovic: The winger constantly stretched Man City down the right with some quick bursts forward and flashy footwork, but he often failed to connect with his teammates in the box. (6/10)

Victor Moses: Moses was probably the best player on the pitch for Stoke, running constantly down the left flank to look for Peter Crouch, frustrating Zabaleta and providing some dangerous-looking free kicks, but he could not quite find the target this evening. (8/10)

Steven N'Zonzi: N'Zonzi got himself into some decent positions in the first half, but his finishing was poor, and he saw little of the ball after the break. (5/10)

Attack

Mame Biram Diouf: Although not the primary target up front this evening, Diouf still proved more than a handful, coming into the match more as it progressed, but he never quite managed to get a truly testing shot away. (6/10)

Peter Crouch: It could have been so much better for Crouch this evening as he had a goal chalked off and was denied what should have been a penalty, but the striker was still ever-present during the home side's attacking spells, and he found the back of the net with yet another well-taken header. (8/10)

Substitutes

Charlie Adam: The midfielder created a few half-chances after replacing Whelan for the last five minutes, but he did not have enough time to make much of an impact. (5/10)

Steve Sidwell: Sidwell took over from the impressive Moses in the final 10 minutes, but could not match the level of the player than he replaced. (3/10)

Oliver Shenton: It has to be a low rating for the 17-year-old on his debut, simply because he came on with just seconds to go and never touched the ball. The teenager was clearly delighted to come off the bench though, even in stoppage time, and hopefully Mark Hughes will give him more of a chance to get involved again at a later date. (1/10)

Goal

Joe Hart: Hart was really under pressure at times in the first half as Stoke dominated the match early on, but the keeper made a string of saves to keep the visitors in contention. (8/10)

Defence

Vincent Kompany: The captain was quiet but effective as the home side focused their game out wide, leaving Kompany to make a string of clearances in the middle. (7/10)

Pablo Zabaleta: The Argentine was certainly kept busy as he was tasked with trying to stop Moses, but he did well to limit the number of crosses that reached their target, and was as ever a threat while going forward. (6/10)

Aleksandar Kolarov: Kolarov also had a difficult task, trying to stop the lively Marko Arnautovic, but the defender put in a solid night's work to limit the number of balls he was able to fire in. (6/10)

Eliaquim Mangala: If there was a weak link at the back for Man City this evening it was Mangala, as Moses and Crouch found their way past him constantly in the first half, but he cut out his errors and tightened up his marking in the second period. (5/10)

Midfield

Fernando: Fernando played his part well in a defensive midfield role, working hard to keep winning the ball back and launching Silva and Milner down the other end. (6/10)

James Milner: The England international was a little lucky not to give away a penalty when he appeared to handle a Crouch shot early on, but Milner was formidable down the other end, scoring a superb header to give the visitors the lead in the second half. (8/10)

Samir Nasri: Nasri was quiet early on, but a change of boots midway through the opening spell seemed to turn things around as he linked up well with Aguero and Silva to put Stoke under pressure before rifling the ball in to put the win beyond any doubt late on after a solo run towards the goal. (8/10)

Fernandinho: Fernandinho certainly got forward a lot, but his enthusiasm got the better of him at times as he made a couple of poor shots and passes to waste a few promising moves for the visitors. (5/10)

Attack

David Silva: The Spaniard has relished a more attacking role in recent weeks, and was the most creative player going forward this evening, having a hand in almost every real chance for the current champions. All that was missing was a goal. (9/10)

Sergio Aguero: The striker looked almost back to his best as he bagged a brace. A careless handball cost him a hat-trick as he had another disallowed, and he did have to go off early after picking up a knock. (8/10)

Substitutes

Edin Dzeko: Dzeko replaced Aguero for the final 15 minutes, and had a couple of opportunities to add to the score, but he could not get the better of international teammate Begovic in the Stoke goal. (6/10)

Jesus Navas: Navas replaced the busy Nasri inside the final five minutes, and fired in a couple of reasonable crosses to sustain some late pressure for the visitors. (6/10)

Frank Lampard: A 10-minute run out for the on-loan midfielder saw him get involved in a few moves forward, but he was unable to get a shot away before full time. (5/10)