Wilfried Bony's first goal for Manchester City helped his side on their way to a much-needed victory after Gareth McAuley was controversially sent off for West Brom
Fernando and David Silva added further goals as City cut Chelsea's lead at the top of the table to three points, at least until Jose Mourinho's side play their two games in hand.
But the game turned on McAuley's dismissal after just 89 seconds - the fastest in the Premier League this season - when it was unclear whether referee Neil Swarbrick had shown the red card to the wrong man.
Another Baggies defender, Craig Dawson, had committed the initial foul on Bony, who got up before running into McAuley inside the area.
Swarbrick, however, awarded City a free-kick before calling McAuley over, and proceeded to send him off despite his pleas of innocence and protests from his team-mates.
It was the second case of apparent mistaken identity in the Premier League in less than a month, following Wes Brown's red card at Old Trafford for a foul by his Sunderland team-mate John O'Shea.
On this occasion it was debatable whether it was a sending-off at all but City, reeling from their Champions League exit against Barcelona and desperately short of domestic form, were not complaining.
They still had to wait until the 27th minute to make the breakthrough against West Brom's 10 men, when the ball bounced kindly for Bony in the box and the £25m January signing calmly side-footed home.
From then on, the result was never in question with West Brom concentrating on defending in numbers in front of their own area rather than trying to threaten at the other end.
The Baggies' resistance was broken again five minutes before the break, when some disastrous defending from a corner allowed Fernando to pounce and score City's 1,000th Premier League goal.
In total, Manuel Pellegrini's side mustered 26 shots in the first 45 minutes, the most in a top-flight game since 2003-04.
Such was their dominance, they were also enjoying upwards of 80% of possession and only wayward shooting and the excellence of West Brom keeper Boaz Myhill kept the score down after half-time.
Sergio Aguero sent a shot thudding against the post and Bony hit the bar with his follow-up as the hosts continued to attack.
West Brom did briefly threaten at the other end, with Saido Berahino heading against the woodwork from close range before former City defender Joleon Lescott followed up to nod over.
But City had the last word when substitute Stevan Jovetic let fly and Silva was in the right place to turn the ball home.
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