Stoke City 1-4 Manchester City

Sergio Aguero ends his goal drought as he scores his first goal in six games

• Sergio Aguero scores for first time since 3 December

• First league win for Man City at Stoke since 1999

• Only Man City's second league win of 2015

• Title rivals Chelsea beat Everton

Sergio Aguero scored his first goals since December as Manchester City got their title challenge back on track with victory at Stoke.

City, who had not won at the Britannia in the Premier League, took the lead through Aguero's run and finish.

Peter Crouch stooped to head a deserved equaliser for Stoke but James Milner nodded Manchester City back in front.

Aguero got his second from the penalty spot after David Silva had been fouled, before Samir Nasri drove in a fourth.

It was a welcome return to winning ways for Manuel Pellegrini's side, and ensured their seven-point deficit on Premier League leaders Chelsea did not get any bigger with Jose Mourinho's side beating Everton.

Manchester City had not won in the league since New Year's Day and their run of four consecutive league games without a win prior to arriving at Stoke was their worst since November 2009.

Sergio Aguero's second-half penalty took his goal tally to 21 for the season

However, the visitors produced an impressive display in the second half which will give them a much-needed confidence boost in the title race.

Initially, though, it was hard to see beyond a Stoke win, with the hosts sensing the opportunity for victory following an early nervy display by Joe Hart.

The Manchester City keeper first fumbled a routine shot from distance by Victor Moses, before he was beaten by Crouch, after spilling another Moses effort from the forward, but he was saved by the offside flag.

With Aguero in their side, Manchester City are always capable of getting something from nothing and so it proved when they hit Stoke on the counter. Milner delivered a long-ball forward for Aguero to chase and the striker drilled into the far corner.

It was his first goal since the 4-1 win against Sunderland on 3 December but the away side's celebrations lasted just five minutes as Stoke hit back when Marko Arnautovic's pinpoint cross was expertly headed in by Crouch.

It was just reward for a strong first-half display by Stoke, but they survived a scare just before the break when Aguero appeared to head in a second, only for the goal to be correctly disallowed for a handball.

That moment could have become the game's main talking point had Manchester City failed to win but in the second half the visitors displayed an attacking intent that had so often been missing in recent weeks to ensure that would not need to be the case.

They pegged Stoke back in their own half, enabling them to take control, and Milner headed Manchester City ahead midway through the half.

From then on, the visitors were in dominant form and there was no way back for Stoke when Aguero confidently despatched a penalty before Nasri added gloss to the scoreline with a strike from the edge of the area.

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes:

"I was more than pleased with what we produced in the first half.

"In the second half there were factors that meant we were not able to get at them. You leave yourself open when you are chasing as the home side and that is what happened.

"We have done really well in the last nine or 10 games. We did really well in the first 45 minutes but Manchester City were able to take it away from us with their bit of extra quality in the second half."

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini:

"We returned to our normal performance, especially in the second half. We scored three goals in the second half and had more chances.

"It is important, not just the score, but also because it is not easy to score four goals at Stoke. They have been the difficult team for us to score against while I have been here. It is a tough place to come. The most important thing was to win and in the way we did today."

On Sergio Aguero's disallowed goal for handball: "Maybe he could not stop because he arrived running to the goal. It is difficult to understand."

BBC Match of the Day's Phil Neville: "Stoke should have had a penalty. The ball flicks up from James Milner on to his arm. But you see the referee's position there, it is impossible for him to see it.

"The scoreline flattered Man City. In the first half Stoke played really aggressively. Nobody is talking about Stoke but they are 10th in the league."

Sergio Aguero has scored five goals in five Premier League appearances against the Potters

Peter Crouch has scored 45 headed goals in the Premier League

The win was Manchester City's first in the Premier League since 1 January