City dominate United in battle of Manchester
English Premier League champions Manchester City stayed two points clear at the top of the table with a dominant 3-1 win against Manchester United yersterday.
Liverpool, having earlier beaten bottom club Fulham 2-0 at Anfield, will go into the international break in second place after receiving a favour from neighbours Everton, who held Chelsea to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, Arsenal had to come from behind to extend their unbeaten run to
16 games in all competitions with a 1-1 draw at home to promoted
Wolverhampton
Wanderers.
Man City moved on to 32 points from 12 games, while Liverpool have 30 and Chelsea 28, with all three teams retaining their season’s unbeaten record in the league.
City were on top from the start against a United team missing the injured Paul Pogba. They surged 12 points clear of their crosstown rivals to highlight just how far Jose Mourinho’s team is from dethroning its neighbours as Premier League champions.
As United were run ragged, and unable to disrupt City’s passing, David Silva swept the league leaders in front in the 12th minute. United’s sloppiness – with Jesse Lingard conceding possession on the halfway line – set Sergio Aguero on the run for a move he completed with City’s second three minutes into the second half.
Although Anthony Martial reduced the deficit from the penalty spot, City remained ruthless and Ilkay Gundogan smoothed Pep Guardiola’s passage to victory by netting from Bernardo Silva’s cross in the 86th.
Runners-up last season, United managed just one shot on target at the Etihad Stadium and now languish in eighth place.
In London, Henrikh Mkhitaryan ensured Arsenal’s unbeaten run in all competitions will extend beyond three months by scoring an 86th-minute equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton.
The substitute’s inswinging cross from the left went over everyone in the box and ended up in the far corner of the net, denying Wolves what would have been the biggest win of their first season back in the top flight since 2012.
They have already drawn with Manchester City at home and Manchester United away.
Ivan Cavaleiro’s 13th-minute strike put Wolves ahead after capitalising on a mistake by Granit Xhaka, leaving Arsenal facing their first loss in any competition since starting the season with back-to-back defeats against City and Chelsea in the Premier League in August.