Patson Daka’s quickfire double on the hour mark and Cesare Casadei’s headed finish secured a fifth straight victory for Enzo Maresca’s side to see them well in front at Christmas. Nine of the last 10 sides to lead the division on December 25 have earned automatic promotion.

Despite this being the first of four games in 10 days, and with a huge game at Ipswich on Boxing Day, Maresca named an unchanged line-up. That meant Daka started a fourth straight game, the longest run a City striker has had in the team all season.

Rotherham arrived without a win in 10 and having taken just two points from a possible 33 on the road. They set their stall out to defend from the first whistle, and it made for a first half light on action.

Although that was partly that City looked a little laboured in the opening minutes and that some of their attacking players weren’t as sharp as usual. They did finish the half with nine efforts on goal to the Millers’ none, the best of them falling to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Stephy Mavididi.

Dewsbury-Hall tried a dink past former City keeper Viktor Johansson, but the Swede got a hand to it, while Mavididi, who was City’s biggest threat in the first period, volleyed well over after his excellent dribble had started an attack. The winger also had the ball in the net but was flagged very early for offside.

That meant City have scored just four first-half goals in their 12 home fixtures, the fewest in the division. But they’ve made a habit recently of netting early in the second period and nearly did so again.

Abdul Fatawu robbed Sebastian Revan inside the Rotherham area and the ball rolled to Daka. His shot went through Johansson’s legs but Sean Morrison had scrambled back to the line to make an excellent goal-line clearance.

However, the Zambian was not to be denied a second time as a well-worked move and a goalmouth scramble led to the breakthrough. City moved it quickly to find Wout Faes’ gallivanting run, the Belgian scuffing a shot Johansson had to parry. Ndidi should have scored the rebound but made a hash of his effort, allowing Daka to gobble up the chance and make the breakthrough.

He had his second moments later when substitute Yunus Akgun forced a terrible back-pass, with Daka beating Johansson to the ball and winning a penalty. The Zambian converted via the fingertips of the Rotherham keeper.

It did not take long for a third to arrive. Dennis Praet played in Ricardo Pereira down the left and he delicately clipped a cross into the six-yard box for a wide-open Casadei, the Italian stooping to direct a diving header into the empty net. Here’s how we scored the players.

Mads Hermansen: After conceding twice in each of his last two games, the Dane had maybe his quietest game of the season. He had no shots to save and with City so high up the pitch, didn’t have to get involved with his feet either. 6

James Justin: Over on the right side, Justin didn’t do anything wrong, but he wasn’t particularly adventurous in his passing, choosing to keep everything simple. It made City less of a threat on their right side. 6

Jannik Vestergaard: A very solid game from the Dane. He won his headers when Rotherham sent it long and got his foot in for a few good tackles too. He wasn’t beaten at any point and marshalled the box well. 7

Wout Faes: City’s star man. His forward balls dissected the Rotherham defence to create danger in the first half, while his daring run into the box was decisive in making the breakthrough with the first goal. He was combative at the back too. 8

Ricardo Pereira: Another very tidy outing from the Portuguese and Rotherham sitting deep allowed him to get further forward. That saw him deliver the cute, pinpoint chipped cross for Casadei’s goal. 7

Harry Winks: His more daring passes didn’t come off and he was a little sloppy at times in the basics in the first hour. But once City were in front, he was composed. 6

Wilfred Ndidi: He wasn’t as sharp as he has been in the final third, with a few of his passes and crosses wide of the mark. He did set up Mavididi’s first-half volley, but was pretty quiet on the whole. 6

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: He made consistently good runs into the area and got on the ball a lot in the first half, causing trouble alongside Mavididi on that left side. He just didn’t quite have the magic touch inside the box. 7

Abdul Fatawu: He showed he is still a teenager who can be inconsistent with his weakest performance in a while. His control was poor and he didn’t beat his man as regularly. He did set up the Daka chance off the line though. 5

Patson Daka: His touch wasn’t great in the first half and he was struggling to find room in the box with less space afforded to him. But he was in the right place to open the scoring and used his pace to win the penalty. 7

Stephy Mavididi: He was City’s most threatening player in the first half, showing some sublime dribbling skills to get through tight gaps. He kept persisting in the second half, routinely making City’s attacks dangerous, and deserved to get a goal or assist. 8

Yunus Akgun: His energetic pressing led to the penalty in his best moment, but it would have been nice to see him try to beat his full-back more often. However, he is easing his way back in. 6

Dennis Praet: He was tidy on the ball and got into good attacking positions. It does feel like there’s more to come from him. 6