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Score: Manchester City 5-1 Leicester City
Goalscorers: Raheem Sterling 3' (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy 24' (Leicester City), Sergio Aguero 48' 53' 77' 90' (Manchester City)
Five goals and a five-star performance from Manchester City brought the league leaders back to winning ways after last week's draw against Burnley. It was Leicester City who were the victims of City this time around with a complete dominance in the second half taking the game away from the Foxes.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the third minute, latching onto a brilliant Kevin De Bruyne delivery. Jamie Vardy equalized for the visitors but after that, it was a complete Sergio Aguero show. The Argentine scored a stunning quadruple and took City's lead at the top back to 16 points.
On that note, here are the 5 key talking points that emerged from City's 5-1 win over Leicester at the Etihad:
#5 Pace can trouble Manchester City
One has to dig deep to find a chink in City's armour, that's the level that Pep Guardiola's men are operating at the moment. But every great team has a flaw and for this City side, directness and a pacy forward line do the trick to ring alarm bells around their backline.
It happened against Liverpool last month when the Reds took the game to City and carved them open at Anfield. For Leicester, Jamie Vardy's presence made all the difference in the first half.
His running caused all sorts of problems for City and on one such instance, Vardy caught Nicolas Otamendi's tame pass and was through on goal. The Englishman duly converted his chance.
If not for Leicester's haphazard defending in the second half, their attackers might have given City a run for their money. But it was Jamie Vardy who again proved to be the nemesis for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.
With his latest goal, Vardy notched up his fifth goal against Guardiola in all competitions - the most for any player.
#4 Raheem Sterling makes up for his horrendous miss against Burnley
No one from the City camp wanted a goal more than Raheem Sterling. The winger must have had nightmares about his miss against Burnley which fitted the criteria of being the miss of the season. But it took the Englishman not more than 180 seconds to make amends with a late dash into the six-yard box and scoring another goal from a Kevin De Bruyne cross.
This was Sterling's 15th Premier League goal and his 20th in all competitions. The majority of those have come from his newfound sharpness in and around the penalty box, making timely runs and latching onto deliveries like a seasoned forward.
Sterling has come a long way this campaign when you take into consideration the fact that the winger's previous best goalscoring return was 11 goals in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.
#3 Weekly reminder: Kevin De Bruyne is a genius
Kevin De Bruyne's matchday schedule must be something like this: Wake up, warm up, destroy opponents, repeat.
It really has become a tedious job to find complimentary words for this man. Kevin De Bruyne is producing performances of sheer quality week-in-week-out which makes his outing against Leicester just another day in the Belgian's life.
His first assist on the night for Sterling's opener was particularly eye-catching. The midfielder did not even look up before launching a pinpoint cross. Just too much for the defenders to put a foot in and not hit well enough for the keeper to make a dash for it. Genius!
De Bruyne delivered three assists on the night, the first time that he has achieved this in a match. He has taken his tally to 14 assists this season, eclipsing Neymar (11) as the highest assist maker in Europe.
On another level.
#2 Riyad Mahrez finally gets his wish to play at the Etihad
After putting in a transfer request and missing training for almost two weeks for forcing a move to Manchester City, Riyad Mahrez returned to Leicester training on Friday. No one had predicted him to make the squad for the trip to Manchester City but here he was, arriving at a stadium that, had his wishes been met, may have been his home ground.
Mahrez was named on the bench by Claude Puel and was brought on at the hour mark. But just as the entire Leicester side, Mahrez looked out of sorts in the second half and played just like a man would play without being 100% match fit.
The only good thing for Leicester to emerge out of this drubbing must be the fact that Mahrez has made up for his actions and will be available for the remainder of the season. His welcome by the Leicester fans during his substitution was enough to prove that he was still liked by the Foxes' faithful.
#1 A vintage Sergio Aguero display
An average first-half display turned into a mammoth goalscoring feast. Only an elite bunch of players can change their fortunes like this in a matter of minutes. And Sergio Aguero's performance against Leicester fits the bill perfectly.
After a not-so-happening first 45 minutes, Aguero turned on the heat in the second interval and produced arguably his best display of the season.
His first three goals were the type of goals that we have grown accustomed to being scored by the Argentine. But his fourth was a touch of brilliance! Aguero received a pass at least 25 yards from goal and unleashed a blinder of a shot that rattled the upright and went straight in.
The striker has scored for fun at the Etihad this season. His four-goal haul against Leicester was the seventh game running where Aguero had netted a goal at the Etihad. In those seven games, the Argentine has scored an astonishing 14 goals.
Also, he is now level with Mohamed Salah on 21 league goals, just two behind leader Harry Kane. From nowhere, Aguero has made the golden boot a three-way race with the Argentine looking to reclaim a prize, which according to many, belongs to him.
