Stuart Pearce continues to advertise his credentials to be Manchester City boss permanently after a comfortable 2-0 win over Portsmouth.
Sylvain Distin's looping header and Robbie Fowler's free kick in the first half were enough for City, who always seemed to be too good for Pompey.
Pearce had his troops well fired up as he still hopes to earn a Uefa Cup place with a late run this season.
Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown failed to deal with Fowler's fourth minute corner, and Richard Dunne's nod down bounced to Distin, and the skipper's looping header found the back of the net.
Shaun Wright-Phillips was showing some of his old form, and he was brought down just outside the box on 16 minutes.
Alain Perrin and his Pompey staff were furious with the award, but Fowler eyed up the situation and curled a low shot into Ashdown's far corner for 2-0.
Claudio Reyna flashed a chance just wide after the half hour as City bossed the game, with Pompey unable to get a foothold.
Joey Barton was the next to go close after Portsmouth failed to clear the danger, and his shot was blocked by Ashdown.
Perrin had words at half time and Portsmouth looked much more competitive in the second 45 minutes.
Aleksandar Rodic got on the end of Diomansy Kamara's run and cross from the left, but his effort was blocked by substitute Ben Thatcher on the line.
David James was at full stretch to save Gary O'Neill's free kick with 20 minutes left, but Pompey never really looked like getting back into the game.
Substitute Valery Mezague probably had the best chance in the dying minutes as he fired a low shot just wide of James' right hand post. City coasted to victory in the end and it is now six games unbeaten for the ever-improving City under Pearce.
