Bolton beaten as City stretch lead at the top

Mario Balotelli again took centre stage as Manchester City saw off Bolton 2-0 to move five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

The mercurial Italian, again in the headlines for non-footballing reasons on Saturday morning, spurned a hatful of chances but eventually got on the scoresheet in another commanding City display at the Etihad Stadium.

City needed a Gretar Steinsson own goal to open the scoring in the first half before Balotelli doubled the advantage in the 69th minute.