Manchester City warmed up fr the midweek visit of Barcelona with a 5-0 hammering of Newcastle United. With Chelsea only managing a point against Burnley the victory also narrowed the gap at the top to just five points.
It took City just 20 seconds to assert their authority as Vurnon Anita gifted possession to Dzeko in the box and then clumsily brought the Bosnian down.
It was just the start of a highly impressive performance from Dzeko, although it was Aguero who tucked away the penalty for his 22nd goal of the season.
Dzeko's darting 12th minute run down the right took him into the Newcastle area and his threaded pass to Nasri allowed the Frenchman to skilfully wrong-foot Fabricio Coloccini and scoop an unstoppable eight-yard shot into the roof of the net.
It was difficult to imagine a way back into the game for the visitors and Dzeko was about to make certain of that with still only 21 minutes on the clock.
Silva found space in midfield and lofted a sublime pass behind the Newcastle back four.
Coloccini mistimed a header which allowed Dzeko to time his run to perfection, take the ball on his chest and bury a textbook finish past Krul.
Into the second half and a searching run from halfway by Aguero in the 51st ended with him crossing to Nasri, who squared the ball to Silva. The midfielder controlled it and placed a finish into the corner from 12 meters.
Aguero then chested down Toure’s long pass, and Silva ran onto the free ball to fire a firm shot into the far corner from outside the area.
Pellegrini had the luxury of taking Silva and Aguero off on the hour, as Bony was introduced to loud cheers at Etihad Stadium.
Bony might have had a debut goal but for a fine save from Krul after racing on to a Toure pass.
Dzeko also extended Krul and the goalkeeper kept out a well-struck free-kick from Aleksandar Kolarov as City, despite easing off in the latter stages, continued to dominate.