3 Truths: David Silva remains Man City’s magician, Winston Reid stands alone in West Ham’s defence

On a night where Sergio Aguero scored his 154th goal for City – taking him to third in their all-time list – it was one David Silva who put in the game’s standout performance.

The Spaniard’s finish for City’s third was coolness personified, and he simply ran the show against a hapless West Ham defence.

It was no surprise to see Silva hauled off after 70 minutes – there are bigger games to come, and Pep Guardiola needs ‘Merlin’ to pull a few rabbits out the hat if they are to haul back Chelsea.

It would be easy to berate the whole of West Ham’s defence following their collapse at home to City, but that would be unfair on Winston Reid.

The centre-back put in a superb challenge on Raheem Sterling at 0-0 in the first half, but was helpless to prevent City from running away with the match.

So after West Ham place a miserly bid for Robert Snodgrass, having already offered peanuts for Jermain Defoe, why is Slaven Bilic not looking to bolster his defence? After tonight’s display, he’ll start to think again…

It’s easy to forget that City beat Burnley on Monday. The post-match interviews from Guardiola highlighted that managing in England is no plain sailing, but his side did the talking on the pitch against West Ham – meaning Pep hardly had to break a sweat. And the media could breathe a sigh of relief ahead of talking to the Spaniard on Friday night...

While the Hammers may steal the headlines for their capitulation, City deserve credit for coasting to victory – after a long Christmas, this was the perfect match, for it was hardly a match at all.

Guardiola’s side can now regroup and focus on the Premier League once more, where they can ill afford another slip – and an away tie at Everton before they welcome Tottenham means it’s a vital January for the boys in sky blue.