Manchester City moved up to second in the Premier League table after a laboured 3-2 home win over FA Cup finalists Aston Villa.
The champions were given a huge gift in the third minute as Brad Guzan mishit a clearance straight to Sergio Aguero, allowing the Argentine to tap the ball into an empty net.
Despite an excellent start, City fell flat and struggled to create chances, although Aston Villa right-back Leandro Bacuna almost gifted Aguero another with a terrible backpass.
After a tame start to the second-half Aleksander Kolarov looked to have won it with a low freekick which found a gap in the Aston Villa wall, only for Tom Cleverley to pull one back a minute later with a half-volley from the edge of the area.
Aston Villa seemed to have won a precious point in their fight against relegation with five minutes remaining when Carlos Sanchez calmly placed a volley into the net after Joe Hart’s weak punch but there were still to be a couple more twists in the tail.
First, Christian Benteke was played through on goal only to be incorrectly called back for offside before Fernandinho’s late volley from a corner gave Manchester CIty the win.