The Tigers were on the end of a Boxing Day thrashing on their first visit to the City of Manchester Stadium as they were crushed 1-5 by Manchester City.

Four goals in the opening 36 minutes ended the match as a contest with Craig Fagan's second half consolation the only highlight.

In manager Phil Brown's 100th game in charge, the Hull City side showed three changes to the one that started against Sunderland last weekend.

Paul McShane replaced the suspended Sam Ricketts at left back and Dean Marney came into the midfield at the expense of Richard Garcia.

The third change saw Dean Windass take the place of Nick Barmby.

With the Tigers operating a 4-3-1-2 system, Windass partnered Marlon King up front with Geovanni playing in the hole behind the front two against his old club.

Fagan made a welcome return to the squad by winning a place on the bench and he was joined amongst the substitutes by Bryan Hughes.

Richard Garcia and Stelios dropped out of the squad.

Manchester City, despite being tagged the world's richest club, started the game in the bottom three.

Manager Mark Hughes welcomed back Brazilian star Robinho back from injury but they were without striker Benjani.

Confusion between Bernard Mendy and Boaz Myhill gifted the home side an opportunity in only the second minute, but when Felipe Caicedo fed Elano, he could only curl a shot over the bar.

The Tigers responded with an attack of their own, King seeing his shot pushed wide for a corner by Joe Hart.

Marney's ball in found Kamil Zayatte, but his header didn't really test the goalkeeper.

The home side won a succession of corners around the ten-minute mark as the Tigers got plenty of blocks in.

From two of the set pieces, Stephen Ireland fired over from the edge of the area after being picked out by Elano.

Marney won his side a free kick out wide in the 13th minute when he was obstructed by Michael Ball.

After a bout of pin-ball, George Boateng saw his low shot deflected for a corner, which the home side defended well.

At the other end, Myhill saved low to his left to keep out Caicedo's low effort.

Caicedo made no mistake with his next effort.

After Robinho had superbly picked out Ireland's run, the ball was squared across goal and Caicedo tapped home from close range.

It could have been 2-0 in the 18th minute when Robinho cut inside after picking up a pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Myhill tipped the Brazilian's shot over.

McShane's burst down the left brough his side a corner on 25 minutes, but Richard Dunne headed Geovanni's delivery away with Michael Turner set to pounce at the back post.

The home side doubled their lead two minutes later with another simple goal.

Once again Ireland was set free down the right and when he squared, Caicedo once again tapped home from close range.

It was 3-0 on 28 minutes.

After Boateng lost possession in midfield, Robinho was set free by Ireland.

He cut inside Turner before curling home into the far corner of the net.

Caicedo could have had a hat-trick on the half hour, but he headed straight at Myhill before the keeper had to tip Robinho's cross over the bar as it headed for the top corner.

The poor start prompted a change from the Tigers on 34 minutes as Nathan Doyle replaced Boateng.

It hardly made a difference as City went 4-0 up moments later.

Wright-Phillips was the provider from the right this time with Robinho the man granted a tap-in at the far post.

For the record, the Tigers were still operating the same system, with Doyle now at right back and Mendy in midfield.

Geovanni was booked shortly before the break following a challenge on Pablo Zabaleta while Myhill prevented a fifth goal, beating away a shot from Wright-Phillips after a swift counter attack.

The same player then missed a golden chance in added time, sliding the ball wide when well placed.

Phil Brown's anger at his side's performance led to a brief team-talk on the pitch directly in front of the visiting fans after the half time whistle.

Half Time: Tigers 0-4 Man City

The Tigers made a change at half time with Fagan replacing Windass.

It became the former Derby County striker's 100th appearance for the club.

There was also a change in system with Doyle switching to left back and McShane going to right back.

Now operating 4-4-2, Geovanni was on the left of midfield with Mendy on the right.

Manchester City made two changes at the break with Nedum Onuoha and Jo replacing Micah Richards and Caicedo.

Wright-Phillips looked set to add to his side's lead, but just as he was about to shoot, Doyle's well-timed tackle prevented him from doing so.

The Tigers' final change came in the 70th minute when Daniel Cousin replaced Geovanni, who was given a warm ovation from all sections of the ground.

Zayatte received a yellow card for a foul on Wright-Phillips while Fagan was shown the same for a foul on the touchline.

Mendy's deflected effort brought his side a corner on 74 minutes but Marney's ball in was poor.

Mendy was the next to be booked for a foul on Elano.

Elano almost got his name on the scoresheet on 79 minutes when Elano's deflected 30-yard free kick hit the outside of the post.

The Tigers grabbed a consolation a minute later.

Cousin's shot was parried by Joe Hart and Fagan reacted quickly to fire home the rebound after Onuoha failed to clear.

But Manchester City went straight up the other end and made it 5-1.

Robinho cut the ball back for Ireland who slammed home past Myhill.

Tigers (4-3-1-2) Boaz Myhill; Bernard Mendy, Michael Turner, Kamil Zayatte, Paul McShane; Dean Marney, Ian Ashbee [captain], George Boateng (Doyle 34); Geovanni (Cousin 70); Marlon King. Dean Windass (Fagan 46).

Subs: Matt Duke, Nathan Doyle, Bryan Hughes, Peter Halmosi, Craig Fagan, Nick Barmby, Daniel Cousin.

Bookings: Geovanni 45, Fagan 72, Zayatte 73 and Mendy 75.

Man City (4-1-4-1) Joe Hart; Pablo Zabaleta, Richard Dunne [captain], Micah Richards (Onuoha 46), Michael Ball; Vincent Kompany; Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stephen Ireland (Fernandes 85), Elano, Robinho; Felipe Caicedo (Jo 46). 

Subs: Kasper Schmeichel, Javier Garrido, Nedum Onuoha, Jo, Gelson Fernandes, Darius Vassell, Daniel Sturridge.

Bookings: Nil

This was the Tigers' heaviest defeat since losing by the same score in the Championship at Colchester United on 28 November 2006.

It was also the first time they had trailed by four goals at half-time since turning round by a 0-4 margin at Oxford United in the Second Division on 13 August 1994.