Crystal Palace’s English defender Joel Ward (left), vies with Manchester City’s Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England on Jan 16. (AFP)

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Jan 16, (AFP): Sergio Aguero scored twice as Manchester City got their Premier League title challenge back on course with an emphatic 4-0 win over Crystal Palace at a snowy Etihad Stadium on Saturday.Aguero’s goals, which took his total for the season to 13, came in each half as City made up for their midweek blank against Everton when they failed to score in a home Premier League match for the first time in 12 months.Fabian Delph and David Silva scored either side of Aguero’s double as Manuel Pellegrini’s side recorded a seventh successive home win against the Londoners to go to the top of the table before Leicester’s late kick-off at Aston Villa on Saturday and Arsenal’s match at Liverpool on Sunday.Palace had failed to score in their previous four league games -- their leanest run in the Premier League since 1998 -- but should have ended their drought inside the first two minutes as they looked to make amends for a 5-1 drubbing at the Etihad in the League Cup in OctoberDefender Damien Delaney stayed up in attack following a corner but, from Connor Wickham’s excellent cross, the Palace captain failed to beat Joe Hart with a header no more than eight yards out.That miss proved costly as City went in front 20 minutes later through the unlikely figure of Delph.The England international, given just his third league start of the season with Fernandinho still injured and Yaya Toure rested on the bench, and justified his inclusion with only the 11th league goal of his career.City’s frustration at failing to find a way through a well-drilled Palace defence was just starting to show when Delph cut in and fired a low, long-range shot into the bottom corner from almost 35 yards, which goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey allowed to skid under his dive.That should have given City a measure of control but just two minutes later Hart almost let that slip when his careless clearance went straight into the back of James McArthur. The ball dropped for Delaney but at full stretch the centre-back, a constant threat from set-pieces, hooked his effort just wide from the edge of the penalty area.Hart did better when turning a Yohan Cabaye free-kick round the post as Palace continued to push for an equaliser but four minutes before half-time City went 2-0 up.Aguero, who had not scored at the Etihad since November, saw his 25-yard shot deflected in via the head of Palace’s Scott Dann, the defender’s attempted clearance wrong-footing Hennessey.City were forced into a change seven minutes into the second half when Aleksandar Kolarov went off with a leg injury, Gael Clichy replacing him at left-back.Pellegrini didn’t wait much longer to make a tactical switch as Kelechi Iheanacho, who had scored in both of City’s previous wins over Palace this season, was replaced by Toure following a frustrating afternoon for the young forward.City still weren’t entirely comfortable as Palace kept forcing them back but Toure quickly made his mark as the hosts put the result beyond doubt.From City’s best move of the match, Silva, Aguero and Toure all combined before Kevin De Bruyne pulled the ball back for Aguero to tap in and make it 3-0.Palace replied with a long-range effort from Yohan Cabaye which flew just wide but they knew they were a beaten side.And they conceded a fourth goal with six minutes left as City finished in style.Aguero was again involved as he led a break-away before calmly squaring the ball for Silva, who scored his first league goal since the opening day of the season.Results/StandingsLONDON, Jan 16, (Agencies): English Soccer results on Saturday:Premier LeagueBournemouth 3 Norwich 0Chelsea 3 Everton 3Man City 4 Crystal Palace 0Newcastle 2 West Ham 1Southampton 3 West Brom 0Tottenham 4 Sunderland 1Aston Villa 1 Leicester 1ChampionshipBlackburn 0 Brighton 1Bristol City 1 Middlesbrough 0Derby 0 Birmingham 3Huddersfield 1 Fulham 1Hull 6 Charlton 0Ipswich 1 Preston 1Milton 1 Reading 0Nottingham Forest 3 Bolton 0Rotherham 0 QPR 3Sheff Wed 2 Leeds 0Wolves 1 Cardiff 3Played FridayBrentford 1 Burnley 3League OneBlackpool 5 Scunthorpe 0Bradford 1 Oldham 0Bury 2 Walsall 3Colchester 1 Sheffield Utd 2Coventry 0 Burton 2Doncaster 2 Gillingham 2Peterborough 0 Southend 0Shrewsbury 0 Barnsley 3Swindon 4 Crewe 3Wigan 3 Chesterfield 1PostponedRochdale vs FleetwoodLeague TwoAFC Wimbledon 3 Mansfield 1Barnet 0 Carlisle 0Crawley 0 Notts County 1Dagenham 1 Northampton 2Hartlepool 1 Wycombe 0Leyton Orient 1 Exeter 3Luton 0 Cambridge 0Morecambe 2 Yeovil 1Plymouth 3 Stevenage 2York 0 Newport 1PostponedAccrington vs PortsmouthScottish Soccer ResultsPremier LeagueHearts 6 Motherwell 0Kilmarnock 2 Inverness CT 1Partick 2 Dundee 4St Johnstone 0 Hamilton 0Played FridayDundee Utd 1 Celtic 4English Soccer StandingsPremier LeagueP W D L GF GA PtsLeicester 22 12 8 2 39 26 44Man City 22 13 4 5 43 21 43Arsenal 21 13 4 4 37 21 43Tottenham 22 10 9 3 38 18 39West Ham 22 9 8 5 34 26 35Man Utd 21 9 7 5 27 20 34Stoke 21 9 5 7 24 22 32Crystal Palace 22 9 4 9 23 24 31Liverpool 21 8 7 6 25 27 31Southampton 22 8 6 8 31 24 30Everton 22 6 11 5 39 32 29Watford 21 8 5 8 25 24 29West Brom 22 7 6 9 22 30 27Chelsea 22 6 7 9 31 34 25Bournemouth 22 6 6 10 26 37 24Norwich 22 6 5 11 24 38 23Newcastle 22 5 6 11 24 39 21Swansea 21 4 7 10 19 30 19Sunderland 22 5 3 14 27 45 18Aston Villa 22 2 6 14 18 38 12ChampionshipP W D L GF GA PtsMiddlesbrough 26 17 4 5 37 13 55Hull 27 16 5 6 44 18 53Derby 27 13 10 4 38 21 49Burnley 27 13 9 5 42 24 48Brighton 27 12 11 4 32 27 47Sheff Wed 27 12 9 6 41 30 45Ipswich 27 12 9 6 37 32 45Birmingham 27 12 7 8 34 28 43Cardiff 27 10 10 7 33 29 40Wolves 27 10 7 10 36 37 37Brentford 27 10 6 11 38 39 36Nott Forest 27 8 11 8 29 25 35Preston 27 8 11 8 24 24 35Reading 27 9 7 11 31 30 34QPR 27 8 10 9 34 34 34Huddersfield 27 8 8 11 36 37 32Leeds 27 7 11 9 27 32 32Blackburn 26 6 11 9 23 23 29Fulham 27 6 10 11 43 47 28Milton 27 7 5 15 22 38 26Rotherham 27 7 3 17 32 47 24Bristol City 27 5 9 13 24 46 24Charlton 27 4 8 15 21 53 20Bolton 27 2 11 14 21 45 17League OneP W D L GF GA PtsBurton 25 17 3 5 34 19 54Walsall 26 15 7 4 44 25 52Gillingham 27 15 6 6 53 34 51Coventry 27 13 9 5 47 27 48Wigan 27 13 9 5 44 28 48Peterborough 26 12 5 9 52 38 41Sheffield Utd 26 11 7 8 44 38 40Southend 26 10 8 8 33 34 38Millwall 25 11 4 10 38 35 37Bradford 24 10 7 7 25 26 37Port Vale 25 10 6 9 29 27 36Doncaster 26 9 8 9 33 35 35Rochdale 25 9 7 9 34 30 34Swindon 26 10 4 12 41 44 34Bury 25 9 6 10 35 40 33Scunthorpe 26 9 5 12 28 36 32Barnsley 25 9 3 13 37 41 30Chesterfield 27 9 3 15 37 46 30Blackpool 26 8 4 14 26 34 28Fleetwood 24 7 5 12 32 34 26Shrewsbury 26 7 5 14 31 45 26Oldham 25 3 12 10 26 39 21Colchester 26 5 6 15 35 61 21Crewe 25 5 5 15 26 48 20League TwoP W D L GF GA PtsPlymouth 27 17 4 6 42 24 55Northampton 26 17 4 5 46 30 55Oxford Utd 25 13 9 3 40 21 48Portsmouth 25 11 11 3 44 22 44Bristol Rovers 26 13 4 9 36 26 43Wycombe 25 11 7 7 32 25 40Accrington 22 11 6 5 38 26 39AFC Wimbledon 26 10 9 7 38 32 39Mansfield 26 10 8 8 36 28 38Carlisle 24 10 8 6 42 39 38Leyton Orient 26 9 10 7 41 38 37Cambridge Utd 27 10 7 10 39 39 37Morecambe 25 10 5 10 45 43 35Exeter 26 9 7 10 35 39 34Crawley 27 10 4 13 33 45 34Notts County 25 9 6 10 38 44 33Barnet 27 9 5 13 36 44 32Luton 26 8 7 11 38 38 31Stevenage 27 6 9 12 37 50 27Newport 25 5 8 12 28 39 23Hartlepool 22 7 2 13 21 35 23Dagenham 26 4 7 15 27 47 19Yeovil 26 3 8 15 24 40 17York 25 3 7 15 26 48 16Scottish Soccer StandingsPremier LeagueP W D L GF GA PtsCeltic 21 15 4 2 52 17 49Aberdeen 21 13 4 4 34 20 43Hearts 22 11 7 4 42 24 40St Johnstone 21 9 5 7 35 31 32Ross County 22 9 3 10 36 33 30Dundee 22 7 8 7 35 38 29Inverness CT 22 7 7 8 30 32 28Motherwell 21 7 4 10 23 34 25Partick Thistle 21 6 6 9 21 28 24Hamilton 22 6 6 10 28 37 24Kilmarnock 23 6 6 11 26 42 24Dundee Utd 22 2 4 16 19 45 10ChampionshipP W D L GF GA PtsRangers 20 16 2 2 61 16 50Falkirk 20 13 5 2 36 15 44Hibernian 19 14 2 3 33 15 44Raith Rovers 19 8 3 8 22 25 27Queen of South 19 7 4 8 20 27 25Greenock Morton 19 6 6 7 19 21 24St Mirren 19 4 6 9 18 28 18Dumbarton 20 5 3 12 18 39 18Livingston 21 4 3 14 23 34 15Alloa Athletic 20 3 2 15 9 39 11League OneP W D L GF GA PtsDunfermline 20 14 4 2 52 14 46Ayr United 20 11 4 5 37 26 37Peterhead 21 9 8 4 48 25 35Albion F.C. 18 8 4 6 20 20 28Airdrie 20 8 2 10 25 31 26Stenhousemuir 20 7 4 9 29 44 25Cowdenbeath 19 7 3 9 29 41 24Stranraer 20 6 2 12 19 36 20Forfar Athletic 19 4 6 9 26 33 18Brechin City 19 4 3 12 19 34 15League TwoP W D L GF GA PtsElgin City 20 11 3 6 38 27 36Queen’s Park 20 10 3 7 29 18 33East Fife 21 9 4 8 33 27 31Annan 19 9 4 6 32 27 31Clyde 18 9 3 6 29 20 30Stirling Albion 19 8 3 8 24 24 27Arbroath F.C. 19 7 3 9 26 27 24Montrose 21 7 3 11 29 39 24Berwick Rangers 19 6 3 10 23 37 21East Stirlingshire 18 6 1 11 26 43 19Note: Standings read as played, won, drawn,lost, goals for, goals against and points.