Both teams took some time to find their feet in the game. Manchester City had the better of the possession early on, but Stoke looked slightly more likely to score, although neither team really threatened early on.
Around 20 minutes into the game, and Raheem Sterling came alive. He almost threaded a cute pass through to Aguero, who just could not reach the England international's pass.
Not long after, City were given a controversial penalty as Ryan Shawcross fouled Nicolas Otamendi during a corner. The Stoke skipper did have hold of Otamendi's shirt, but the contact seemed to be mutual and therefore seemed harsh on the defender.
Aguero stepped up to take the penalty and managed to convert with aplomb, sending Given the wrong way, avoiding the shame of missing three penalties in a row.
Around 10 minutes later and Aguero had his name on the scoresheet once again. De Bruyne crossed from the right and Aguero managed to finish with a glancing header to put City 2-0 up.
Stoke then mustered their best attempt of the first half. Phil Bardsley managed a volley at the back-post, but Willy Caballero saved well. However, as the ball bounced back into the penalty area and Kolarov bundled over Stoke midfielder Joe Allen, but referee Mike Dean deemed the challenge fair.
Controversy struck onced again just inside the second half, as it was Stoke who were then given a soft penalty from a corner. Sterling was adjudged to have fouled Shawcross, but replays showed that contact was minimal.
Bojan made no mistake from the penalty spot, setting up an interesting finish at the Bet365 Stadium.
However, as Stoke pushed for an equaliser in the dying stages of the game, Manchester City struck twice on the counter-attack.
Firstly substitute Iheanacho rounded Given, squaring the ball to fellow substitute Nolito who managed to score an easy chance which effectively won the game for City.
Nolito then found himself on the scoresheet once again just minutes after when Sterling selflessly passed to the Spaniard when one-on-one with Shay Given, allowing the Spaniard to place the ball into an empty net.
On the whole, City were probably the better side. But Mark Hughes' side will believe that 4-1 is an unfair scoreline, having pushed Manchester City for an equaliser for most of the second half.