City stars salute spirit

Despite being forced to take to the field without a recognised striker, which meant midfielder James Milner had to lead the line up front, City claimed a comfortable win that moved them level on points with Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea.

David Silva opened the scoring just after half-time, via a big deflection, before netting a second on the hour mark before Yaya Toure wrapped up the points at the Etihad.

And Zabaleta, whose unselfish pass allowed Silva to break the deadlock, said: "We knew it was a difficult game because we didn't have any strikers, but the team spirit is fantastic, that's what we need at the moment.

"If you look at the whole performance, it was fantastic. We kept patient to score the first goal, they were defending very deep, it was difficult to find the goal and at the end I think it was a different game."

Goalkeeper Hart, who earlier this week signed a new long-term contract extension, agreed with his team-mate's assessment following City's eighth consecutive win in all competitions.

"It was a fantastic performance. Millie came in and did brilliant for us up there, worked hard. David and Samir (Nasri) and Yaya, they link up so well and with Zaba and Ali (Aleksandar Kolarov) bombing on it's difficult for any team," he said on BT Sport 1.

"We're in a situation at the moment, but we've not complained about it, we've just changed our system and we've won 3-0."

He added: "We're a team of winners, we've been together for a long time. The lads who've come in have realised that we play to win even in difficult times."