Manchester City 3 Albion 0

Birthday boy Carlos Tevez bagged a first-half hat-trick as struggling Albion were blown away by Manchester City.

On the day he turned 27, Tevez found Albion in generous mood as he converted two penalties and completed a fine team move with a sublime finish to put City out of reach before the break.

The Baggies improved after the break, while City eased off to ensure there was no addition to the score, but Albion could do nothing to avoid an sixth defeat in eight Premier League matches.

With their slide towards the relegation zone looking alarming, Roberto Di Matteo's men now face a make-or-break spell with home matches against West Ham and Wolves followed by trips to Stoke and Birmingham.

The afternoon began with a moving minute's applause for former City star Neil Young, who recently lost his battle with cancer.

And City almost handed their fans a dream start when Kolarov's cross found Tevez horribly free in the centre of goal, who could only side-foot against the woodwork.

But the Baggies had also started brightly and went close when Chris Brunt's free-kick was turned around the post by goalkeeper Joe Hart.

However, that merely delayed the inevitable City opener, which came on 16 minutes when the Baggies switched off at a quick free-kick and Kolarov went down in a tangle with Steven Reid, prompting referee Martin Atkinson to point to the spot.

Tevez drilled the spot-kick low into the net as goalkeeper Boaz Myhill went the wrong way.

It was 2-0 on 22 minutes when the Baggies' defence was carved open by City's brilliance, Vincent Kompany feeding Tevez, who exchanged passes with David Silva before leaving the sliding Jonas Olsson for dead and dispatching a low shot past Myhill.

The goalkeeper then made two excellent saves to deny Kolarov and Silva, as the relentless waves of City's attack continued.

So it was no surprise when the third goal arrived when Jerome Thomas was punished for a lazy handball inside the box and Tevez dispatched his second penalty high past the diving Myhill.

Morrison saw a long-range volley saved by Hart after a rare Baggies attack but Tevez might have added his and City's fourth before half-time, as City left Baggies defenders looking like statues and the Argentine sent a low shot narrowly wide.

The start of the second-half was largely uneventful, with City content to protect their half-time lead while Albion struggled to break down the hosts' defences.

Brunt went close with one long-range shot that flashed just past the angle of post and bar.

Then Marc-Antoine Fortune squandered Albion's best chance after cutting in from the right to collect Youssouf Mulumbu's excellent pass, only to fire a nervy shot into the side-netting.

Nicky Shorey sent a free-kick just wide via a deflection off the City wall.

But Tevez should have made it 4-0 with 11 minutes to go after the birthday boy presented with his easiest chance of the day, Albion getting in a tangle at the back and Milner teeing up his captain.

However, the star of the day lifted his shot over the bar from a few yards out.