Man City send Tevez ‘4-0’ message

Manchester City shrugged off the turmoil surrounding former captain Carlos Tevez by using a second-half scoring spree to rout Blackburn 4-0 on Saturday in the Premier League.

Adam Johnson, Mario Balotelli, Samir Nasri and Stefan Savic all netted after the break to make sure City kept pace with rival Manchester United.

Tevez was suspended last week over his apparent refusal to come off the bench during City's 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, with manager Roberto Mancini saying the Argentina striker would never play for the club again.

Even with Sergio Aguero sustaining what appeared to be a groin problem, City made it 19 points from seven matches, with 23 goals scored.