Manchester City surged into third place in the Premier League with a five-star performance against Sunderland.
Looking to capitalise on the draws by Chelsea and Arsenal on Saturday, City went in front after just nine minutes at the City of Manchester Stadium after Adam Johnson exchanged passes with Yaya Toure before finishing well.
Six minutes later Carlos Tevez doubled their advantage from the penalty spot after he was sent to ground by Phil Bardsley, and City then had to wait until the 63rd minute to add to their tally.
Tevez raced onto a long ball forward by Nigel de Jong and played the ball into the six-yard box for David Silva to make it three, and just four minutes later Patrick Vieira added to the rout despite the best efforts of Black Cats goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
Yaya Toure then pounced on a poor backpass by Lee Cattermole to complete the scoring 17 minutes from time, and Mario Balotelli could have made it six with the last kick of the game but his free-kick was brilliantly pushed over the crossbar by Mignolet.