Manchester City crushed Burnley 6-1 at a sodden Turf Moor on Saturday to move into fourth place in the Premier League, while pushing the home side nearer to relegation after a season in the top flight.
City scored three goals in the opening seven minutes and were 5-0 up at halftime on a rain-lashed pitch that was covered in standing water as deflated Burnley fans walked out rather than watch their team sink even further into the mire.
The victory moved City on to 59 points and into fourth place in the table, which brings a spot in the Champions League playoffs for next season's competition.
Tottenham Hotspur, who had started the day fourth, slipped to fifth on 58 points after losing 3-1 at Sunderland.
City boss Roberto Mancini told ESPN: "I am very happy because we started the game very well and scored three quick goals and after that the game was finished.
"It was important to win today after Tottenham lost, and we did a good job. We played well in the first half but it was impossible to play football on the ground in the second half because of the conditions," he added.
The match was effectively over as a contest when early goals from Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez virtually wrapped up all three points.
Patrick Vieira added the fourth with a powerful header after 20 minutes for his first goal for the club and Adebayor made it five before the break with his second of the match.
Vincent Kompany made it 6-0 after 58 minutes before Stephen Fletcher scored a consolation for the home side 19 minutes from the end.
City's three in seven minutes was the best start to a top-flight match since Spurs scored three in seven in a 5-0 win over Oldham Athletic in 1993.
Burnley, back in the top flight for the first time since 1976, now seem set for an immediate return to the Championship (second division) after a good start to the season which included wins over Manchester United and Everton.
Burnley have now won just once in 13 League games since Brian Laws took over as manager from Owen Coyle in January.
They remain one place off the bottom with 24 points from 33 games, three points from the safety zone.
