Birmingham reax

George Caulkin, The Times

And, of course, once Tévez became involved, then City knew they were treading on the securest of territories. This squat pugilist has become an extraordinary talismanic figure for his club, who have won every league match in which he has scored, a statistic that was seldom in jeopardy from the second that he stroked his 38th-minute penalty beyond Maik Taylor.

Graham Chase, Daily Telegraph

Manchester City are building a head of steam in their pursuit of fourth place and Carlos Tévez could not be in better form going into arguably the most important derby for decades.

Ivan Speck, Daily Mail

Against a Birmingham team which has ground out results in parsimonious fashion all season, City were simply rampant once Emmanuel Adebayor had lured Scott Dann into an unwise challenge eight minutes before half-time and the splendid Carlos Tevez gleefully set City free from the penalty spot.

Flowing from left to right and back again, thrusting into space, dropping in behind, this may not have been the safety-first catenaccio upon which Mancini was reared in Italy's Serie A, but it is lapped up at Eastlands.

Sachin Nakrani, The Guardian

Five goals were scored by the hosts and such was the fullness of attacking display that even the full-back Nedum Onuoha was able to contribute to the tally in impressive style, galloping forward as he did on 74 minutesbefore sweeping the ball into the corner of the net to make it 4-1. This win, however, bore the hallmark of City's frontpair. Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor were irresistible, scoring twice each and threatening throughout to get more.

Ian Edwards, The Independent

"We want to win for our supporters and for our position in the league table. That is the most important thing," he said. After scoring 14 goals in their last three games confidence could not be higher – even if it goes against Mancini's more pragmatic Italian theories.

At times Birmingham were spellbound by City's movement and pace. "It seemed like they had extra men on the field. That is what good sides can do to you," said Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager who will not have seen his resolute side capitulate in such a fashion at any stage previously this season. "We did not down tools, but there was some pretty dreadful defending at times," he added.