Manchester City tore Arsenal apart for the second time in five days on Thursday, beating it 3-0 on a freezing night at The Emirates to restore its 16-point lead as it closes in on the Premier League title.
Arsenal hoped for redemption after City thrashed it by the same scoreline in the League Cup final on Sunday but first-half goals by Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane handed it a second home league loss this season.
Delightful
On a snowy night at The Emirates, City’s Portuguese forward Bernardo Silva opened the scoring in the 14th minute, collecting a pass after a long weaving run from Leroy Sane and delightfully curling his shot into the far corner past goalkeeper Petr Cech.
City sliced open Arsenal’s defence again just before the half-hour, moving the ball swiftly upfield to Aguero who laid it into the path of David Silva racing up on the left, and the Spaniard drove a low shot into the corner to double the lead.
Bamboozled
Sane made it 3-0 five minutes later, walking the ball into the goal after another quick-fire City move had bamboozled Arsenal’s ramshackle defence which was left chasing shadows.
Meanwhile in Spain, Barcelona was held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-fighting Las Palmas on Thursday in an unexpected setback.
The results: Premier League: Arsenal 0 lost to Manchester City 3 (Bernardo Silva 15, David Silva 28, Sane 33).
La Liga: Real Betis 0 drew with Real Sociedad 0; Las Palmas 1 (Calleri 48-pen) drew with Barcelona 1 (Messi 21); Alaves 1 (Laguardia Cisneros 90) bt Levante 0.