Perhaps Jose Mourinho was right, after all. Chelsea’s boss said he was more worried about the threat of Manuel Pellegrini’s side than Premier League leaders Arsenal.

But if it was a late, late show in the Black Country, caused by traffic congestion on the M5 forcing a 15-minute delay to the kick-off — there was little sign of any lethargy. Prior to Wednesday night, City boasted just one three-point haul from their travels — against West Ham — in direct contrast to their spellbinding form on their own turf.

It has hampered their progress and left them with some catching up to do on Arsenal. But there was finally a sign that Pellegrini’s men really mean business and it coincided with the return of Vincent Kompany to the starting line-up.

The Belgium international has long been considered a talisman among a galaxy of stars and with him back in the ranks, there was little chance of Steve Clarke’s team adding to their impressive list of scalps. It also helps when you have a player such as Sergio Aguero at the very height of his powers. It has been suggested he is the third best player on the planet. With 17 goals in all competitions this season, that claim has to be given serious consideration.

And the crispness of his ninth-minute finish that set City on their way was a case in point. The opener owed much to the tireless running of Pablo Zabaleta. A ball was played up to Edin Dzeko just inside West Brom’s penalty area. Centre-half Jonas Olsson made the mistake of allowing the Bosnia international to turn.

That allowed him to wait until Zabaleta had galloped down the outside of Liam Ridgewell. His pull-back to Aguero was swept home with the kind of confidence that befits a man who appears comfortable with every facet of his game. Before the first quarter of the game was over, Yaya Toure had added a second. Again, it was a neatly-worked move. This time it was Aleksandar Kolarov who provided the support from full back at just the right moment.

He overlapped on the left and again a centre arrived in just the right place for Toure to sidefoot past Boaz Myhill. The second-half was more muted and, as the game entered its final 15 minutes, the game should have been wrapped up.

Kolarov burst into the area and cut across Claudio Yacob. The midfielder made the mistake of catching the Serbia international and referee Chris Foy pointed to the spot.

Toure sidefooted the penalty home and a comprehensive victory appeared to have been registered. But in the 85th minute, Kolarov poked the ball towards his own goal after substitute Matej Vydra crossed from the leftand it went in off the back of Costel Pantilimon.

And in the last seconds Victor Anichebe claimed his first goal for West Brom after turning on the edge of the area. It was too little too late for West Brom. For City it was, as Mourinho might have acknowledged, a sign of things to come. Pellegrini said: ‘I think we played very well — in other games we have played as well as this but not scored. We had a lot of chances in the first 45 minutes.

‘We are not trying to send a message to anyone, we are trying to win points. For our team it was very important to win away and we have done it. ‘It was not as close as the score suggests. They scored two goals in four minutes. It says 3-2 but we had more of an advantage than that.’

—Dail Mail