Manchester City on Saturday soared above the fog swirling around the Etihad Stadium to demolish Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 and leave the rest of the Premier League peering into the distance in search of Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking team.
Tottenham, who began the day fourth, were supposed to provide a proper test, but — just like City’s previous 15 opponents — were outclassed as goals by Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling put City 14 points clear.
City’s 16th successive win took them to 52 points one game short of the halfway point of the season.
Photo: AP
Tottenham tumbled down to seventh behind Liverpool.
Even without David Silva, City were too clinical for Tottenham and could even afford a second-half penalty miss from Gabriel Jesus.
“Since August we are so happy and I admire the most the way we play without the ball — thank you to the club to provide me with these amazing players,” Guardiola said.
City’s attacking play is a thing to behold, but there was nothing fancy about their 14th-minute opener as Gundogan was left unmarked to head in from a corner.
To their credit, Tottenham took the game to City in the second half, but were cut open in the 70th minute as De Bruyne finished off a rapid counterattack.
Sterling’s double in the final 10 minutes took his tally for the season to 15 before Christian Eriksen scored a late consolation.
Meanwhile, Arsenal sent Newcastle United into the drop zone with a 1-0 win that lifted the Gunners to fourth with 33 points, while Burnley are fifth after a 0-0 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion for whom Glenn Murray missed a penalty.
Chelsea have won eight of their past 10 games, but like Arsenal who beat Newcastle with a Mesut Ozil goal, are realistically playing for a top-four position unless City suffer a collapse of dramatic proportions.
“In the last 10 games we won eight,” Chelsea coach Antonio Conte said. “Some people are forgetting this run, because there is a team that is winning every game.”
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