(CNN) -- Carlos Tevez scored his first Manchester City hat-trick to send Roberto Mancini's side soaring into the top four of the Premier League after a crushing 4-1 win over Blackburn.
The Argentine opened the scoring in the seventh minute after goalkeeper Paul Robinson dropped Martin Petrov's corner.
Benjani pounced on the loose ball and Tevez was in the right place to turn home the Zimbabwean's shot with his hip.
City doubled their lead six minutes before half-time when defender Micah Richards made a superb run into the Blackburn area -- and was in the right place to fire home when Benjani's shot bounced back off a post.
Benjani also played a part in the third goal, cutting the ball back for Tevez to fire home his second early in the second half.
Tevez should have had a hat-trick when he dived to reach Pablo Zabaleta's chipped cross but, with the goal at his mercy, failed to find the target.
Mancini then watched his side concede for the first time since takling over from Mark Hughes four matches ago when Morten Gamst Pedersen capitalized on a errors by Vincent Kompany and Shay Given to curl home a fine shot.
The scoring was not completed though. Having blown one chance of a hat-trick, Tevez did not miss a second time when he was set up in stoppage time to score his 11th goal in nine matches.
The result means City jump above Tottenham into the final Champions League place, seven points behind leaders Chelsea.
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