Manchester City emerged as 4-2 victors against Hull City this afternoon, despite being pegged back by the home side to two goals apiece at the break.

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Sergio Aguero almost gave the visitors the lead inside 60 seconds as his burst of pace took him away from two defenders, but the Argentine saw his shot from a narrow angle palmed away by Allan McGregor.

Six minutes later, the 26-year-old showed his predatory instincts as he spun inside the area before sending a half-volley beyond the reach of McGregor to put City 1-0 up.

Edin Dzeko scored his first goal of the season to double their lead just four minutes after the opener with a rasping drive from 20 yards which flew into the top corner.

Just as City looked to be racing away from their opponents, a stroke of misfortune halved the deficit as Eliaquim Mangala inadvertently flicked a header past Willy Caballero from Liam Rosenior's wicked right-wing cross.

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Mangala's afternoon went from bad to worse ten minutes later when he was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Abel Hernandez inside the area, and the Uruguayan striker picked himself up to level from the spot with his second league goal in three games for the Tigers.

The equaliser seemed to shock the champions, but they began to compose themselves once more and Dzeko almost put them ahead again with a header in the 43rd minute, but it was directed just over the bar.

Both sides emerged in the second half with the same vigour they showed in the first and Tom Huddlestone saw his long-range drive pushed away by Caballero, while at the other end Yaya Toure rattled the post with a strike from a similar range.

With little more than 20 minutes remaining, Dzeko netted his second of the afternoon with a measured, left-footed finish to put City back in front.

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Toure was then denied by McGregor before Huddlestone's drive deflected off Kompany and span narrowly over the bar as Hull came mightily close to equalising.

However, with four minutes remaining, Frank Lampard scored after coming off the bench for the second week running to ensure that Man City returned to winning ways.