With Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour given a standing ovation by the fans on attending his first home game since buying the club two years ago, big-spending City provided plenty for their billionaire owner to savour on a wet night at Eastlands.
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Tevez made it 2-0 in the 52nd, claiming a classic poacher's goal from point-blank range after seemingly adding the final snatched touch to a powerful Micah Richards header.
"It's definitely mine, I'm definitely going to claim it," he said.
"The mentality is very important," said City manager Roberto Mancini, who rested new Italian signing Mario Balotelli with Tevez alone up front. "If the squad has a good mentality, it can beat everyone."
It was City's best league result against the once-mighty visitors, whose own title aspirations have been fuelled by the arrival of manager Roy Hodgson and some high-profile summer signings, in 73 years.
"We were a little bit unlucky to get beaten so heavily," Hodgson told Sky. "I didn't think we really deserved to get beaten 3-0.
"Pepe Reina wasn't called into action that often and I thought we had one or two good spells in the game but we were playing against a very effective and strong Manchester city side," he added.
"When Hart made that incredible double save, at 2-1 that might have put some more life back int
