( CNN ) -- Manchester City thrashed Sunderland 5-0 to keep alive their slim English Premier League title hopes and to cement their position in the top four Champions League places . England international Adam Johnson , making his first start since injuring his ankle in January , opened the scoring in the ninth minute while captain Carlos Tevez doubled the Blues ' advantage on the quarter hour from the penalty spot . Second-half strikes from David Silva , Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure completed the rout as City went above reigning champions Chelsea into third in the standings . They are six points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham , who pipped them for the final Champions League place last season , but have played a game more . Leaders Manchester United have a seven-point lead over Arsenal , who have played a game less , with their neighbors City 10 points adrift . The strikes from Johnson , who exchanged passes with Toure before finishing neatly , and Tevez , who was fouled by Michael Turner to draw the penalty , effectively ended the match as a contest with City always in command against a Sunderland side in poor recent form . Silva scored after a Mario Balotelli shot was blocked , Vieira with his first touch after coming off the bench and Toure after an error by Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole . City 's Dutch international Nigel de Jong said the result was important for their Champions League ambitions . `` There are still seven games to go and anything can happen but this is a great confidence boost for our team -- we are real contenders for the Champions League places . '' he told Sky Sports . In Italy 's Serie A , Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick as Napoli came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to beat Lazio 4-3 to move into second . They trail leaders AC Milan by just three points after their 3-0 derby victory over reigning champions Inter Milan , who are now third , five points adrift , on Saturday night . Goals from Stefano Mauri and Andre Dias gave Lazio a two-goal lead before Andrea Dossena and Cavani , with his first , drew Napoli level in a thriller . A Salvatore Aronica own goal put the visitors back in front but Cavani , from the penalty spot , equalized and then grabbed a superb winner for Walter Mazzarri 's team . Lazio finished with 10-men as Giuseppe Biava after was sent off in giving away the penalty . Cavani tried his best to shrug off title talk after their superb win . `` We try to win every game and to do our best and the points will be counted up at the end of the season , '' he told Sky Sport Italia . Defeat for Lazio dents their Champions League hopes as they stay outside of the top four in Italy . In Spain 's La Liga , second half penalties from Mali international Freddy Kanoute and Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo helped Sevilla to a 3-1 home win over strugglers Real Zaragoza . The victory sees them move to fifth in the standings . Diego Perotti had put Sevilla ahead on 43 minutes only for giant Czech Jiri Jarosik to level two minutes after the break .
Manchester City thrash Spain 5 -0 to move into second place in Premier League . Fit-again Adam Johnson opens scoring for City at Eastlands . Serie A scores hat-trick as Napoli go second in Edinson Cavani with 4 -3 win over Napoli . Sevilla beat Real Zaragoza 3-1 to go fifth in Spain 's La Liga .