Balotelli hat-trick piles misery on Villa

THE manner in which Mario Balotelli recorded his first hat-trick in English football summed up just how easy Manchester City’s victory over Aston Villa was yesterday.

Two penalties, barely getting above a stroll in his ‘run up’ and a tap-in was all it took to score three goals against an increasingly desperate Villa, whose manager Gerard Houllier’s position already looks more than unstable after three months in charge.

City finished three points above Villa as both sides launched sustained pushes for fourth place last season but the hosts’ victory moved them 18 points clear of the Midlands side.