It was a case of déjà vu as Manchester City swatted aside Arsenal 3-0 in Pep Guardiola’s 100th game in charge on Thursday night.
After meeting in the Carabao Cup final four days earlier, where City triumphed 3-0, a huge gulf between the two clubs was on show again in freezing conditions at the Emirates Stadium.
Guardiola’s men raced into their 3-0 lead inside 33 minutes with a spell of attacking football that was dripping in quality and soaked in style, summed up by goals from Bernardo Silva (15), David Silva (28) and Leroy Sane (33).
Arsenal created opportunities but were wasteful in front of goal as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty (53).
The win sends City 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League and means they have already matched Arsenal’s points tally of 75 from last season with 10 games still to play.
Those hardy souls that made to trip down the M6 from Manchester were rewarded for their commitment with a fantastic opening period from their team.
Sane danced his way down the left wing before pinging a pass out to Silva, who took a touch and curled a wondrous effort into the top corner on 15 minutes.
If the first was good, the second goal was even better as Arsenal were cut open again by Sane down the left. He turned Henrik Mkhitaryan inside and out, before finding Sergio Aguero in the box. The striker waited before playing a perfect pass to Silva, who finished past Petr Cech.
The searing nature of City’s attacking didn’t relent and Sane got his deserved goal on 33 minutes. This time City attacked down their right and some amazing one-touch interplay between Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne ended with Sane poking home at the back post.
Arsenal were given a golden opportunity to stage an unlikely comeback just after the break when Nicholas Otamendi fouled Mkhitaryan in the box, kicking through the back of his legs. However, Aubameyang hit the penalty far too close to Ederson, who dived to his left and parried the ball clear.
As the temperature started to drop, so did Arsenal’s belief and City strolled through the remainder of the match.
Sky Sports