Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League table in emphatic fashion on Wednesday (NZ time) by crushing West Bromwich Albion 5-0 at the Hawthorns.
City, who scored three goals in the opening half hour, have 41 points, one more than rivals Manchester United who have also played 19 games and will return to the summit if they beat bottom club Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead in the sixth minute, showing great control as he collected a pass from Joao Cancelo and curled a shot into the far corner.
Cancelo then made it 2-0 with another fine strike into the same corner, although West Brom were unhappy that the assistant's flag had been raised before his shot.
The impressive Gundogan added his second and City's third on the half-hour, when he robbed Romaine Sawyers on the edge of the box, danced past Dara O'Shea and fired home.
On the stroke of halftime, Riyad Mahrez made it 4-0 with a trademark strike, cutting in from the right and blasting a left-foot shot into the far top corner past the helpless Sam Johnstone.
Mahrez turned provider after the interval, with his low ball across the face of the penalty area tapped in from close range by Raheem Sterling in the 57th minute.
The win was Pep Guardiola's team's 11th straight victory in all competitions.
Struggling West Brom remain second-bottom on 11 points, six points from the safety zone. They have conceded 22 goals in their last five home league games, the most a team have conceded across five top-flight matches since Aston Villa in December 1935 (22).
In the other late game, Arsenal won 3-1 away to Southampton thanks to Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka, who scored and had an assist each as the Gunners exacted revenge for their FA Cup fourth-round loss to the Saints on Saturday.
Southampton took an early lead when Stuart Armstrong met James Ward-Prowse's corner with a thunderous half-volley in the third minute, but Nicolas Pepe drew Arsenal level five minutes later with a cool left-footed finish from Granit Xhaka's pass.
Saka put the Gunners ahead six minutes before halftime, latching on to a superb pass from Lacazette before rounding keeper Alex McCarthy, who had rushed out of his goal, and slotting the ball home.
The roles were reversed in the 73rd minute as Saka crossed for Lacazette to score the third and seal a victory that lifts Arsenal to eighth place in the table on 30 points, one ahead of Aston Villa, Chelsea and Southampton.
Soucek double fires West Ham to win at Crystal Palace
West Ham United moved into the Premier League top four after Tomas Soucek's double helped them to a 3-2 victory at London rivals Crystal Palace on Wednesday (NZ time).
Wilfried Zaha gave Palace the perfect start with a goal after two minutes at a drizzly Selhurst Park but the visitors hit back impressively to claim a fourth straight league victory.
Czech Soucek headed the equaliser after nine minutes and put his side in front after 25 minutes in a dominant first half from the Hammers for whom Michail Antonio twice struck the post.
Craig Dawson's header gave West Ham breathing space midway through the second half and Palace could not respond until deep into stoppage time when Michy Batshuayi struck a consolation.
West Ham moved above Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool into fourth place with 35 points from 20 games although their nearest rivals all have games in hand.
Palace have now won once in their last seven league games and remain in 13th spot on 23 points.
Leeds sink Newcastle to pile pressure on Steve Bruce
Goals from wingers Raphinha and Jack Harrison gave Leeds United a 2-1 win at Newcastle United on Tuesday, piling more pressure on Magpies manager Steve Bruce after the club's winless Premier League run extended to nine games.
With seven defeats in those nine, the result left Newcastle 16th on 19 points from 20 games, while Leeds stayed 12th on 26 from 19 after ending their own three-game winless streak in all competitions.
Brazilian Raphinha fired Leeds ahead in the 17th minute when he side-footed a clinical finish into the bottom right corner from 15 metres after a fine build-up, as Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo carved open the Newcastle defence.
Lacking any bite up front and fortunate not to be trailing by more goals in the first half, the home side equalised out of the blue in the 57th as Miguel Almiron burst forward and steered a low shot past goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
Newcastle's joy was short-lived and they fell behind again four minutes later as Harrison was given time and space on the left to take Raphinha's pass into his stride and volley past keeper Karl Darlow into the far corner.
Newcastle pressed in the closing stages and missed several chances to salvage a point, with Meslier pulling off a pair of good saves to deny the Magpies who were also guilty of some poor finishing.
Reuters
