Sergio Aguero struck a hat-trick for Man City as they beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to go third in the Premier League table.

The visitors controlled the first half on Saturday evening and went ahead through Aguero on 33 minutes, although the forward's effort was aided by a deflection off Gary Cahill.

The Argentina international finished a City counter-attack for his second, and sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Fernandinho was tripped by Thibaut Courtois, with the Chelsea goalkeeper sent off as a result.

The victory moves City above Arsenal, who host Crystal Palace on Super Sunday, while Chelsea remain 10th with just one win from their last eight Premier League home games.

Both managers made four changes, and in a frantic opening, both had opportunities to break the deadlock.

Strong defending from Cahill prevented Aguero from tapping home after just three minutes, before Nicolas Otamendi cleared Pedro's goal-bound shot off the line with Joe Hart beaten.

Diego Costa had the ball in the net shortly after but was correctly adjudged offside, and after weathering the early pressure, City stamped their authority on the game.

Courtois twice denied the visitors one-on-one, as Kevin De Bruyne and Samir Nasri saw efforts saved by the Chelsea 'keeper.

But the hosts did not heed the warnings and fell behind to a rapid City counter-attack.

De Bruyne and Aguero broke from a Chelsea corner, and when the Belgian teed up his team-mate, Aguero cut inside and fired home off Cahill.

It was his 11th goal in his last 12 Premier League appearances for City, and only a last-ditch tackle from Cahill prevented him from doubling City's lead two minutes before the break.

Chelsea started the second half brightly as they searched for a route back into the match, but were caught on the counter again as City extended their advantage nine minutes after half-time.

The impressive De Bruyne, returning to his former club, was again involved before Nasri found Aguero, who made no mistake for his 20th league goal of the season.

He didn't have to wait long for his 21st, as City made the game safe from the spot with ten minutes to play. Fernandinho broke into the Chelsea area and was upended by Courtois, leaving referee Mike Dean no choice but to issue the red card and award a penalty.

Aguero, who missed against PSG in midweek, sent substitute goalkeeper Asmir Begovic the wrong way to seal his hat-trick.

Chelsea had felt hard done by six minutes before City's third, when referee Dean waved away a penalty appeal after Kenedy appeared to be tripped by De Bruyne in the area.

Following the defeat to Swansea, Saturday's loss marks the first time Guus Hiddink has lost two league games in a row as a club manager since February 2004, when he was in charge of PSV Eindhoven.

Meanwhile, City head to St James' Park to face Newcastle on Tuesday full of confidence after following up their Champions League win with another strong performance.

Player ratings

Chelsea: Courtois (6), Azpilicueta (5), Cahill (5), Ivanovic (5), Baba Rahman (6), Mikel (5), Fabregas (5), Willian (5), Loftus-Cheek (6), Pedro (6), Costa (6)

Subs used: Traore (6), Kenedy (6), Begovic (6)

Man City: Hart (6), Zabaleta (6), Otamendi (7), Mangala (7), Kolarov (6), Toure (6), Fernandinho (7), Navas (8), Nasri (7), De Bruyne (8), Aguero (9)

Subs used: Iheanacho (6), Delph (6), Sagna (6)

Man of the match: Sergio Aguero

Teams

Chelsea Courtois, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic (c), Cahill, Baba, Fabregas, Mikel (Begovic 79), Willian (Traore 69), Loftus-Cheek, Pedro (Kenedy 69), Costa
Subs Not Used Miazga, Matic, Falcao, Pato
Booked Mikel, Azpilicueta
Sent Off Courtois
Goals

Manchester City Hart. Zabaleta (Sagna 66), Otamendi, Mangala, Kolarov, Toure (c), Fernandinho, Navas, De Bruyne, Nasri (Delph 74), Aguero (Iheanacho 84)
Subs Not Used Caballero, Fernando, Bony, Demichels
Booked Zabaleta, Otamendi, Nasri
Goals Aguero 33, 54, 80 (pen)

Attendance 41,212

Referee Mike Dean