EPL: Manchester City cruise past Arsenal again as Arsene Wenger's woes increase

Arsene WengerManchester City piled more misery on beleaguered Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger with a 30 humbling of the Gunners on Thursday to open up a 16point lead at the top of the Premier League Four days on from crumbling meekly to a 30 defeat as City won their first silverware of the Pep Guardiola era in the League Cup final Arsenal disintegrated once more as the visitors scored three times in the opening 33 minutes in front of a sparse crowd at the EmiratesBernardo Silva David Silva and Leroy Sane were on target to inflict a third straight defeat on Arsenal and leave them 10 points adrift of the Premier League top four in sixth place And a night to forget for Arsenal was complete when Acircpound56 million 79 million club record signing PierreEmerick Aubameyang saw his secondhalf penalty saved by EdersonBy contrast Citys cruise towards the title continues unabated despite again not needing to hit the heights of their displays earlier in the campaign to up the pressure on Wengers position once more Subzero temperatures and the apathy caused by Arsenals display at Wembley on Sunday saw thousands of seats go unoccupied at the EmiratesThe lines around the pitch were painted blue ahead of kickoff in case an expected snow shower covered the field Unfortunately for the home fans that did brave the cold that was the only novelty on a night of familiar failings from Wengers men who have now lost seven times in 12 games this year Arsenal had even started the brighter as Ederson prevented Vincent Kompany turning into his own net before Henrikh Mkhitaryan stung the palms of the Brazilian goalkeeper with a drive from the edge of the boxHowever they never recovered from the sucker punch of Citys opener on 15 minutes as Sane weaved away from three Arsenal challenges on the left and teed up Bernardo Silva to cut inside onto his favoured left foot and curl into the top corner Ederson produced two more decent stops from Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey before City showed their more clinical touch in the final third just before the half hour markSane was again involved before Sergio Aguero played in David Silva to slot home at Petr Cechs near post City then exhibited their speed on the counterattack for a third five minutes later as Aguero Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker combined to set up Sane to tap home his 12th goal of the season The third goal was the cue for many of those Arsenal fans who did show up to leave whilst the delighted travelling City fans taunted Wenger by pleading for the Frenchman to extend his 22year reign in chargeAguero was looking for his 200th City goal and should have had it before halftime when his shot from De Bruynes cutback was placed too close to Cech Arsenals anguish was rounded off seven minutes into the second period when Nicolas Otamendi chopped down Mkhitaryan inside the area Aubameyang took responsiblity from the spot but the lack of conviction in his penalty reflected Arsenals performance as Ederson saved comfortably low to his left Aguero was made to wait for his double century in City colours by a wonderful save from Cech before the Argentine was handed a rest for the final eight minutes However Citys wait for a fifth league title wont last long with a maximum of just five more wins needed from their remaining 10 gamesCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever