Manchester City climbed to the top of the Premier League table as they saw off a resolute Aston Villa side 2-0 at the Etihad.
The win took Man City’s tally to 38 points same point as Leicester but ahead on superior goals.
Man City brought Phil Foden, Joao Cancelo and Rodri back into the starting XI who missed their win over Crystal Palace at the weekend.
For Villa they made just one change from their last league lineup, though, with Ross Barkley returning to replace Anwar El Ghazi.
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Man City had the first big chance of the game as the ball fell to Bernardo Silva at close range, but Emiliano Martinez made himself big to keep his effort out.
The hosts kept their momentum going as Foden weaved his way between opposition defenders, which led to a corner – although nothing of note resulted from that set piece.
Villa began having some more threatening moments of their own, but were lacking quality with the final ball on a couple of occasions.
City created another chance when Kevin De Bruyne was teed up – only to see his shot blocked by Tyrone Mings.
The last big chance of the half fell to City, when De Bruyne expertly fired a pass across for Foden however, his shot was blocked to keep the game goalless heading into the break.
There was almost a chance for Villa to break the deadlock early in the second half, when Bertrand Traore beat De Bruyne down the wing before seeing a tame shot saved.
City then went the closest yet as Cancelo struck the crossbar with a rising effort.
City had Ruben Dias to thank for a crucial intervention when he diverted a Villa cross away from goal, as the away side began to up the pressure.
But it was the hosts who finally broke the deadlock in the 79th minute. Rodri fed the ball to Silva, who took it away from the defenders into a pocket of space and sent it flying in with his left foot.
Moments later, City doubled their lead after the referee pointed to the penalty spot when Matty Cash handled the ball after a Gabriel Jesus header.
Ilkay Gundogan powered the ball home to make it 2-0 and confirm the result.
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