Gundogan brace boosts Man City

London, Jan. 27: Manchester City thrashed West Brom 5-0 to move back top of the Premier League on Tuesday as Arsenal aided their push towards the European places with a 3-1 win at Southampton.

City have now won 11 consecutive games since West Brom earned a shock 1-1 draw at the Etihad last month.

City have hit top form since and did not miss the presence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne in blowing away the Baggies by scoring four goals before half-time.

Ilkay Gundogan opened the floodgates by curling home from the edge of the box before Joao Cancelo’s controversial strike doubled City’s lead.

The West Brom defence was distracted by a wrongly raised offside flag before the Portuguese full-back found the net, but the goal stood after a VAR review.

Gundogan then took his tally to seven goals in his last eight league games before Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling rounded off the scoring.

West Brom have now conceded 17 goals in Sam Allardyce’s four home games in charge as they remain second bottom of the table, six points off safety.

Mikel Arteta is also enjoying a fine run of form as Arsenal have taken 16 from the last possible 18 points. Arsenal avenged their FA Cup to Southampton at the weekend despite falling behind after three minutes to Stuart Armstrong’s strike.

Nicolas Pepe quickly levelled before Saka rounded McCarthy and slotted home to give the visitors at half-time lead. Lacazette sealed a vital three points 18 minutes. —