City make it 15 in a row after thumping Swansea
City have broken Arsenal’s record of 14 successive wins
LONDON: David Silva scored twice as runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City won 4-0 at Swansea City to set a new English top-flight record of 15 consecutive victories.
Pep Guardiola’s side won comfortably at the Liberty Stadium to eclipse the mark of 14 successive wins set by Arsenal in 2002.
United bounced back from their derby defeat by beating Bournemouth 1-0, while slip-ups for Liverpool and Arsenal allowed Tottenham Hotspur to steal into fourth place by beating Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0.
City remain 11 points clear of United and have now scored 52 goals in their 17 league games to date as they stride towards what seems like an inevitable title.
Guardiola made four changes to the team that had prevailed at Old Trafford, with Sergio Aguero earning a recall.
Silva broke the deadlock at bottom club Swansea in the 27th minute by flicking in Bernardo
Silva’s cross from the right.
Kevin De Bruyne’s free-kick made it 2-0 shortly after and David Silva added a third early in the second half, neatly chipping Lukasz Fabianski following a give-and-go with Raheem Sterling. Aguero scored the fourth in the 85th minute, finishing with a low shot.
Romelu Lukaku scored the game’s only goal as United got back to winning ways against Bournemouth.
The Belgian striker, who is alleged to have been heavily involved in the derby dust-up, headed in Juan Mata’s 25th- minute cross and pointedly failed to celebrate.
SPURS GO FOURTH
Tottenham jumped from seventh place to fourth courtesy of their 2-0 win over Brighton at Wembley, which arrived thanks to an overhit Serge Aurier cross and Son Heung-min’s fourth goal in four games. Spurs, for whom Erik Lamela made his first start in 14 months, are four points below third-place Chelsea in the last Champions League berth.
Jurgen Klopp recalled Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino from Sunday’s 1-1 derby draw with Everton and thought Dominic Solanke had poached a late winner, only for the goal to be ruled out for handball. West Brom are now club-record 16 games without a win in all competitions, but the point took the Baggies out of the relegation zone.
ARSENAL DROP POINTS
Arsenal dropped to seventh, a point below Burnley, after a goalless draw at David Moyes’s West Ham United.
Arsenal, who hit the post through Alex Iwobi in the first half, have now gone three league games without victory. West Ham almost won it at the death, but Javier Hernandez’s shot hit the bar and bounced just short of the line.
Everton remain unbeaten under new manager Sam Allardyce following a 1-0 win at Newcastle United. Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game in 27th minute. Newcastle had Jonjo Shelvey sent off in stoppage time for two bookable offences.
Claude Puel enjoyed a successful return to his former club Southampton as Leicester City won 4-1 at St Mary’s to notch up a fourth successive win. Shinji Okazaki scored twice for Leicester, with Riyad Mahrez and Andy King also on target, while Maya Yoshida scored a consolation goal for the hosts.