Manchester City 3 West Brom 0 - Report and pictures

A first-half strike from Fernandinho gave Manchester City the lead before the brilliant Kevin De Bruyne added a second after the break.

Sergio Aguero wrapped the game up with a third two minutes from time, but in truth, it would have been a far heavier defeat were it not for Ben Foster.

It was always going to be tough against Manchester City's gilded stars, and head coach Alan Pardew admitted beforehand that he'd have to try a different approach than the positive one at Liverpool, but the pragmatism went too far.

The Baggies sat back too much, failing to give their hosts enough to think about in their own penalty area, and in the end it was comfortable for Pep Guardiola's men.

The game wasn't without needle though, and days after the City boss complained about challenges on his players, both Fernandinho and Matt Phillips were lucky to escape red cards.

It was top vs bottom, and Albion's task grew even harder after four hamstring injuries from Anfield ruled out Jonny Evans, Jake Livermore, Kieran Gibbs and Hal Robson-Kanu.

Pardew made six changes in total, dropping Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt to the bench, and handing rare starts to Gareth McAuley, who was named captain, and 19-year-old Sam Field.

New boy Daniel Sturridge was on the bench but there was no place in the squad for Ali Gabr, who also arrived on loan earlier this week, while Pep Guardiola gave a debut to Aymeric Laporte, the £57m centre-back he decided to sign instead of Evans.

It was always destined to be a tricky night for the Baggies, and they were given an early warning sign when Raheem Sterling got in behind the backline in the first minute, but Ben Foster pounced on his cross with Sergio Aguero lurking.

The Albion keeper was called into action againt soon after, punching clear Kyle Walker's swirling cross, as the home side penned their visitors into their own half.

City wanted a penalty in the eighth minute when David Silva goes down under Craig Dawson's challenge on the edge of the box, but the midfielder fell over too easily and the appeals were rightly waved away.

It was attack vs defence though, epitomised by Ederson's stock position inside the centre-circle, where he was controlling clearances from Foster before starting more City attacks.

Kevin De Bruyne tried to catch Albion's keeper out at the near post, although Foster was alive to it, but then in the 20th minute the brilliant Belgian masterminded City's breakthrough.

Drifting in off the left hand side, he slid an inch-perfect pass through Albion's team that caught McAuley out and found Fernandinho in the box.

And the Brazilian midfielder, who was lucky to escape punishment earlier in the game after stamping on Grzegorz Krychowiak, made no mistake from the narrow angle and slid the ball under Foster.

Pardew changed to a 4-5-1 after that, moving Rodriguez wide left, McClean right, and bringing Field into the middle, but it didn't change much and De Bruyne grazed the bar from range soon after.

Fernandinho's stamp on Krychowiak forced the Polish midfielder off in the 33rd minute, as Gareth Barry came on for his 650th Premier League appearance to a rousing reception at his old stomping ground.

Barry's presence brought a temporary calmness to the Albion, who finally managed to string some passes together in the 37th minute, prompting the away end to engage in some ironic 'Oleing'.

But on the whole the away side looked sluggish. Perhaps that was down to the superior opposition, the changes to the side, a hangover from Anfield, or a mixture of all three.

Whatever it was, they were lucky to go into half-time just one behind.

Sterling nearly doubled City's lead straight after the break with an effort that whistled inches wide before Foster was called into action again when he had to claw away Aguero's backheel.

If Albion were hoping to soak up the pressure and strike on the counter, they needed more pace, and so ten minutes into the second half Pardew sent Matt Phillips on for Field and returned to 4-4-2.

Even though the Baggies improved slightly, it was still mainly one-way traffic as the spinning roulette of sky blue shirts tried to pass their way through Albion's obstinate defence.

Foster, who was easily Albion's man of the match, was brought into a full-stretch save by Bernardo Silva and then left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko whistled a long-range shot past his post.

While it stayed 1-0, the Baggies had hope, but then on the 68th minute De Bruyne, who was easily City's man of the match, doubled their lead.

Breaking up the pitch at speed, he even rode a dreadful attempt to bring him down from James McClean, before playing a one-two with Sterling and rolling it into an empty net.

Even in this expensively-assembled team of glittering stars, De Bruyne stands out as a superstar, and the Belgian attempted an audacious lob from near the halfway line moments later that Foster had to tip over his bar.

Sturridge was given a 15-minute cameo at the end, and he got a great chance when Barry's tackle fell to him kindly, but he hit the side netting after racing clear.

Albion will need him to be more clinical than that going forward, and moments later Aguero showed him how it's done, lifting the ball over Foster to wrap the game up.

But frustration boiled over for the Baggies near the end when Phillips flew into a dangerous knee-high challenge on substitute Brahim Diaz.

He got the ball, but it was still reckless, and fortunately for a team now nursing a lot of injuries, he wasn't shown the red card he probably deserved.

Key Moments

20 GOAL CITY - De Bruyne cuts in off the left and slides an inch-perfect pass past McAuley that Fernandinho then slides under Foster.

68 GOAL CITY - De Bruyne evades McClean's cynical foul and plays a one-two with Sterling before finding the net.

89 GOAL CITY - Aguero races clear and lifts the ball over Foster.

Albion Man of the Match

Ben Foster - Would have been a cricket score were it not for him.

Position in the Table

20th, with 20 points from 24 games.

Teams

Albion (4-4-1-1): Foster; Dawson, McAuley (c), Hegazi, Nyom; Field (Phillips 55), Yacob, Krychowiak (Barry 33), McClean; Rodriguez, Rondon (Sturridge 77). Unused subs: Myhill, Brunt, Burke, Harper.

Manchester City (4-1-4-1): Ederson; Walker, Laporte, Otamendi; Zinchenko; Fernandinho; B Silva, De Bruyne (Diaz 77), D Silva (Gundogan 38), Sterling; Aguero. Unused subs: Bravo, Danilo, Kompany, Toure, Diaz, Adarabioyo.

Referee: Bobby Madley