CARDIFF CITY 0, MANCHESTER CITY 5
Sergio Aguero, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and a second half double by Riyad Mahrez put Cardiff City to the sword as Manchester City bounced back from Champions League defeat by Lyon in style.
City boss Pep Guardiola made three changes from Wednesday night and his team produced a reaction to be proud of.
John Stones, David Silva and Gabriel Jesus dropped to the bench and were replaced in the team by heavyweight players Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane, and Nicolas Otamendi.
And it was Aguero who celebrated his 300th appearance for the club with a 205th goal for City a day after he confirmed that he would be staying at the club until 2021.
Ilkay Gundogan was the man who made it all happen for the Blues, scoring once, setting up two, and generally running the game after a below par performance on Wednesday.
He had already swept the bar over the bar early on but the German set Bernardo Silva free with the little Portuguese midfielder laying the ball off for Aguero to put City into the lead after 32 minutes.
The flood gates were open and three minutes later City Sane crossed for Silva to produce a wonderful cushioned header which saw the ball loop over Neil Etheridge in the Cardiff goal to double that lead.
Danny Ward tested Ederson briefly but City were in complete control and Aguero had a shot blocked on the line before Gundogan produced a rocket from the edge of the D after Raheem Sterling’s lay off in the 44th minute.
Cardiff were already well known to City for their agricultural approach to tackling from their FA Cup encounter last season and Joe Ralls was lucky to escape with just a booking for a vicious rake of his studs on Gundogan’s leg.
The travelling fans may have been outraged again but Guardiola’s side simply upped a gear after the break and polished off their hosts.
Sane’s free header from Gundogan’s free kick shaved the post before substitute Mahrez profited from a great low left wing pass by Gundogan to clip the ball home from 6 yards out after 66 minutes.
Bernardo Silva could have doubled his goal tally when he controlled Phil Foden’s cross but blazed it over.
And it was Mahrez who finished off the Bluebirds with a fine finish after 89 minutes when he intercepted a poor clearance from Bruno Ecuele Manga to curl City’s fifth past Etheridge and inflict Cardiff’s heaviest defeat of the season on them.