Manchester City extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 15 points with a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad Stadium this evening.
Kevin De Bruyne assisted the first and scored the second before Sergio Aguero made the scoreline more reflective of City's dominance with an 89th-minute third.
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With Manchester United losing 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur this evening, the Citizens are now one step closer to an emphatic title triumph.
The first half at Eastlands followed a similar pattern to many recent City home matches as the underdog visitors tried to sit back and frustrate Pep Guardiola's side.
It took City only 19 minutes to break down the West Brom rearguard as De Bruyne picked out the run of Fernandinho with an inch-perfect through ball which the Brazilian poked through Ben Foster.
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De Bruyne could have had a first-half hat-trick himself, with his first effort on 28 minutes kept out by the legs of Foster.
The Baggies goalkeeper was beaten by a De Bruyne shot which clipped the top of the crossbar, but did thwart him again with a sharp reflex save when the Belgian met Raheem Sterling's cut back with controlled side-footer.
Sterling himself should have doubled City's advantage two minutes after the restart when he cut back onto his right foot 10 yards out, but he tried to be too precise with his effort and bent it wide of the post.
West Brom failed to register a single shot on goal in the first half but were still in the game while the deficit remained just one, with new signing Daniel Sturridge on the bench in anticipation of a potential late salvo.
However, De Bruyne put some daylight between the sides on 68 minutes when he converted Sterling's square pass to finish a slick counter-attack which began with the goalscorer valiantly staying on his feet from a cynical James McClean tackle.
It was not until two minutes from time that West Brom had their first chance, and it fell to Sturridge but he lacked the composure to roll the ball into an empty net after his initial shot had been blocked by Ederson.
City immediately went up the other end to finish with a flourish, as Sterling spun away from Gareth Barry on the halfway line and ran down on the City defence, before timing his pass perfectly for Aguero to delicately lift the ball over Foster.
While City continue to fly high, West Brom remain bottom of the table and are now four points from safety.
WEST BROM (4-3-2-1): Foster; Dawson, Hegazi, McAuley, Nyom; Krychowiak (Barry, 33'), Field (Phillips, 55'), Yacob; McClean, Rodriguez; Rondon (Sturridge, 78')
MAN CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Fernandinho, Silva (Gundogan, 39'), De Bruyne (Diaz, 78'); Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero
Joe Fish
