Manchester City ended a four-game winless run in the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Hull City on Saturday that boosted their hopes of finishing in a Champions League spot. Ahmed Elmohamady's own goal opened the scoring before half time at Etihad Stadium, as the Hull defender turned in Jesus Navas' dangerous low cross. Raheem Sterling's jinking run then set up Sergio Aguero and the Argentine's powerful effort squeezed past Eldin Jakupovic. The Hull goalkeeper had no chance from City's third, with Fabian Delph allowed time and space to lash in from outside the box. Andrea Ranocchia did pull one back late on, as Claudio Bravo let a weak effort trickle past him.

Pep Guardiola's side went into this one having not tasted victory in the league since a trip to Sunderland on 5 March. With that four-game winless run seeing them drop points against top-five opposition in Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, the Spaniard wrote off their chances of competing for the title. And with Champions League qualification now his focus, Guardiola would have been a relieved man when Elmohamady turned the ball into his own net after some resolute defending from Hull in the first half hour. They could and should have added to their tally with both David Silva and Leroy Sane being denied by Jakupovic, while Yaya Toure and Delph again went close.

The hosts were always in control, enjoying 67% of the possession, but at times they looked fragile at the back and only an Oumar Niasse miss-kick stopped the visitors from levelling almost immediately after the opener. It was a landmark occasion for David Silva, as the 31-year-old celebrated his 300th game for Manchester City by taking the captain's armband. The Spaniard's incisive passing and superb vision regularly found Sane and Sterling in space on either flank, but it was a composed performance from all of City's ball players. Toure made more than 100 passes, 64 of those in the Hull half, while both he and midfield partner Fabian Delph boasted passing accuracies in excess of 92%. But at the other end, a Premier League recall for Bravo for the first time since 21 January seemed to do nothing to inspire the hosts' defence.

The one shot the goalkeeper had to save squirmed past him, adding fuel to the Chilean's critics. Hull were bottom when Marco Silva took over in January, but the Portuguese has guided the Tigers out of the drop zone with five wins since his arrival. However, their recent resurgence has been built on some impressive home form having only picked up one point in six league matches on the road now under their new boss. That was apparent with the approach the Portuguese took at the Etihad, where he looked for his side to contain City and hit them on the break. Despite the comprehensive defeat there were positives for the 39-year-old, who threw on attacking reinforcements late on and was rewarded when Shaun Maloney set up Ranocchia for a consolation.