No case for defence as West Brom lose against Man City - match analysis

But familiar failings saw Albion slide to a routine defeat at the Etihad Stadium and now, as they surely expected before last night's appointment with the title challengers, Pepe Mel's side have four matches to save their Premier League lives.

Graham Dorrans gave the 300-or-so hardy Baggies fans a moment to remember with a special goal that offered a brief reminder of the player they once hoped would take the top flight by storm.

And the Scot's wonderful strike on 15 minutes threatened for a while to hand City a similar scare to the one handed out by Sunderland less than a week earlier.

For Mel's men, however, the defensive demons that have blighted their season before and since his arrival on the scene ensured normal service was resumed for Manuel Pellegrini's side, who ultimately strolled to a 15th victory from 17 home games this term.

With two pieces of shoddy defending and one absolute calamity, the visitors handed their expensively-assembled hosts a 3-1 half-time lead which their rarely looked like giving away.

• Manchester City 3 West Brom 1 - match report and pictures

It was Argentina 3 Albion 0 as Pablo Zabaleta and Sergio Aguero gave Pellegrini's men a 2-0 lead inside 10 minutes before Martin Demichelis restored the two-goal cushion before the interval after Dorrans' goal had brought about a more confident spell for his side.

Albion had already suffered a pre-match blow when key defender Gareth McAuley was ruled out with an injury, suffered on the training ground.

And it got worse for Mel's side as early as the third minute.

They had already cleared their lines twice in a frantic opening when Samir Nasri's cross was headed away poorly by Liam Ridgewell, Aguero's powerful shot was parried well by Ben Foster and Zabaleta pounced to head home the rebound.

Moments later it should have been 2-0 when Nasri found space on the right again and pulled the ball back for Aguero, who skied a right-footed shot when he was in acres of space.

Albion had the ball in the net seconds later when Matej Vydra side-footed home from a Billy Jones cross but the flag had been raised early for offside against the Albion full-back, although replays suggested the decision was marginal.

However, the visitors were struggling to stem the early tide of City pressure and it was 2-0 in the 10th minute when dismal defending allowed Aguero to make up for his earlier miss.

He side-stepped a weak challenge from Morgan Amalfitano and was then given time to pick his spot before he unleashed a wonderful, curling shot.

It looked like being a long night for the Baggies, but on 15 minutes they gave themselves a much-needed shot in the arm with an outstanding goal capped by a fine Dorrans finish.

Ridgewell robbed Zabaleta and picked out Stephane Sessegnon, who drove at the heart of the City defence.

He fed Vydra, who squared for Dorrans and the Scot's brilliant first touch took him away from Gael Clichy before his second defeated a helpless Joe Hart.

Albion were given extra hope when Demichelis was booked for a foul on the lively Sessegnon and, from the resulting free-kick, Hart almost spilled a fierce shot from Brunt.

The visitors' confidence grew noticeably but, nine minutes from half-time, their hard work was all undone by another dreadful piece of defending.

A corner from Nasri was flicked on by Vincent Kompany and, with Ridgewell and Jonas Olsson caught ball-watching, Demichelis stole in at the far post for the simplest of finishes to leave a stranded Foster apoplectic.

The Baggies might have grabbed another goal on the stroke of half-time when Jones found space on the right, got the better of Clichy and crossed for Sessegnon.

Kompany inexplicably failed to close down the Baggies man, but the Belgian did enough to divert his shot over the bar for a corner with a fine last-ditch challenge.

Early in the second half City threatened again down their right flank through Zabaleta, who delivered a dangerous cross towards Edin Dzeko, forcing Foster into a crucial intervention with his feet.

And Albion had another let-off just before the hour-mark when Zabaleta found room on the overlap for City and crossed to the near post, when Craig Dawson made a vital interception to prevent Dzeko turning the ball past Foster.

Albion did their best to find another lifeline but their efforts were limp.

Amalfitano, who had struggled to impose himself on the game, was closest to forcing a breakthrough, first with a low shot that looked to be testing Hart until it was blocked in the area by Javi Garcia, then with a curling effort from outside the area that was parried to safety by the home keeper.

Albion made changes in a bid to gain some extra attacking momentum with Victor Anichebe replacing the ineffective Vydra and Saido Berahino stepping in for Sessegnon.

The pair almost combined with 10 minutes to go when Berahino fired a neat ball towards the feet of his fellow substitute, but Anichebe lost his footing and the chance petered out.

And in the closing stages Ridgewell cut in from the left and curled in a right-footed effort which Hart had to scramble away as Berahino closed in.

Now come the games that will decide their fate and determine whether they have another chance to topple the Premier League's big guns next season.