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Mancini proves a point as City smash four past Fulham

Yaya Toure walked in Manchester City's third © Getty Images

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Roberto Mancini came face-to-face with the man he replaced as Manchester City manager at Craven Cottage on Sunday, and the Italian ensured there would be no nostalgic glances back to the Mark Hughes era as City smashed Fulham 4-1.

Having been shunted out of the Champions League qualifying places by Bolton on Saturday following two forgettable goalless draws, Mancini was undoubtedly under pressure as he arrived in west London. However, his expensively assembled side picked Fulham apart in front of an exasperated Hughes, and City are now just three points off top spot.

Mancini threw in a tactical shock ahead of kick-off, handing Brazilian striker Jo a rare start, but it was the ever-reliable Carlos Tevez who opened the scoring after just six minutes. Using his low centre of gravity to outmuscle the over-eager Carlos Salcido, Tevez coolly slotted home his eighth of the season in front of the watching Diego Maradona.

By the half-hour mark it was 2-0 as another Argentinian, Pablo Zabaleta, rifled home a 25-yarder that flew past Mark Schwarzer in the Fulham goal. And by half-time it was three as Yaya Toure strolled around the home defence to stroke home a goal that looked all too simple, prompting Hughes to question his defenders in a visibly uncompromising manner.

Whatever the Fulham manager said at half-time clearly made little difference as the Cottagers continued to wilt in the second period. Tevez should have scored when clean through in the 55th minute, but he did not have to dwell on the miss for long as the resulting corner found its way to Zabaleta, whose rasping drive was cleverly diverted in by Tevez.

Zoltan Gera later grabbed a consolation for Fulham, but it did not spoil a fine City performance that lifts Mancini's men to within a point of Arsenal.

Morten Gamst Pedersen bamboozled Brad Friedel for the opening goal © PA Photos

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Aston Villa handed a debut to Robert Pires at Ewood Park but it was Blackburn who carried the greater injection of impetus following their midweek takeover, winning 2-0 thanks to a brace from Morten Gamst Pedersen.

Rovers were bought by Indian poultry firm Venky's on Friday, bringing fresh hope of future investment in their squad after the new owners promised to turn the club into a "global brand". However, the current group of players did plenty to impress on Sunday, scoring in either half to elevate themselves to 11th in the table.

Although Villa began the match with an injury-ravaged side - with their strikeforce particularly decimated through the losses of Emile Heskey and John Carew - they were in the ascendancy for most of the first 30 minutes, with Ashley Young and Stewart Downing drawing fine saves from Paul Robinson as Gerard Houllier's men looked lethal on the break.

However, Blackburn got a grip on proceedings as the half progressed by forcing a series of set-pieces that the visitors - who were at a noticeable height disadvantage - struggled to deal with. It was no surprise when a dead-ball situation yielded Blackburn's opener on the stroke of half-time, Pedersen's free-kick from near the corner flag drifting straight into the net after wrong-footing Brad Friedel.

With the spectre of Pires looming large from the bench, Villa's wide players set about proving their worth in the early stages of the second period. Young was unlucky to see a bullet header come back off the crossbar - Robinson had given up on it - while Downing tested the former England goalkeeper when cutting in from the right flank.

However, before Houllier could get his new signing on the pitch, more scrappy Villa defending led to a second for Blackburn, and a second for Pedersen. This time the Norwegian pounced on a loose ball at a corner to rifle through a crowded penalty area to double Rovers' advantage.

Pires promptly arrived, at the expense of the disappointing Stephen Ireland, but it was Blackburn who could have scored again before the end as El-Hadji Diouf wasted a glorious chance at the far post.

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