Manchester City recorded their ninth successive Premier League victory by beating Arsenal 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
Goals from men of the moment Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero gave City a two-goal cushion which was halved by Alexandre Lacazette's 65th-minute reply.
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Gabriel Jesus sealed City victory with a third off the bench, opening up an eight-point gap on second-place Manchester United ahead of their trip to Chelsea this afternoon.
Arsenal started the brighter of the two sides but went behind on 19 minutes courtesy of De Bruyne's third goal of the season, a left-footed strike across Petr Cech.
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The Citizens should have doubled their advantage prior to the break, only for Raheem Sterling to overhit a simple square pass for the unmarked Leroy Sane.
As it was, Arsenal could have equalised in first-half stoppage time when Aaron Ramsey's shot through several City bodies was kept out by Ederson's low reaction save.
That intervention proved to be a pivotal moment in the game as City extended their lead five minutes after the break courtesy of Aguero's penalty.
Nacho Monreal bundled Sterling down in the box, and the Argentine stepped up to score his 179th City goal - adding to the club record that he set against Napoli in midweek.
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Arsene Wenger brought on Lacazette and the French striker pulled one back during Arsenal's best spell, firing through the legs of Ederson from Ramsey's pass.
City would snuff out the Arsenal comeback inside 10 minutes, although Cech did keep the Gunners in the game with a brilliant scrambling save from Jesus on his own goalline.
Jesus soon made sure of the three points for the league leaders, knocking home from close range while Arsenal defenders were still appealing for offside against De Bruyne.
The Gunners are down to sixth in the table on goal difference, 12 points behind City who are looking more and more difficult to stop.
Joe Fish
