EPL: Man City thrash West Ham 4-0, Manchester United held by Hull City

Yaya Toure C celebrates scoring his teams fourth goal from the penalty spot Pics AFPManchester City turned on the style to dismantle West Ham United 40 and revive their fading Premier League title aspirations as Manchester Uniteds hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow with a goalless home draw against struggling Hull City on WednesdayCity produced a scintillating firsthalf display scoring three times before the break through Kevin De Bruyne David Silva and new boy Gabriel Jesus before Yaya Toures penalty capped a onesided romp at the London StadiumClinical finishing was in short supply at Old Trafford however where United came up against an inspired performance from Hull keeper Eldin Jakupovic who made a string of superb saves to keep Jose Mourinhos side at bayJose MourinhoWhile Citys victory moved them level on 46 points with fourthplaced Liverpool and kept leaders Chelsea just about in their sights Uniteds slipup left them sixth four points adrift of City and 14 off the summitHulls unlikely point moved them off the foot of the table while Stoke City and Everton drew 11It has not been plain sailing for City manager Pep Guardiola in recent months and he came into Wednesdays game facing the prospect of losing three successive topflight away matches for the first time in his managerial careerCity had already beaten West Ham twice this season with an aggregate score of 81 and they were returning to the London Stadium less than a month after thrashing their hosts 50 in the FA Cup third roundDe Bruyne started and finished off a swift counter to put them ahead after 17 minutes and with the home side in disarray City turned the screwSane gave Silva a tapin at the far post four minutes later before Jesus grabbed his first for the clubCitys January signing sidefooted in Raheem Sterlings pass six minutes before the break and when Sterling was felled by Jose Fonte making his West Ham debut Toure stepped up to thump his penalty into the netYOUTHFUL FRONTLINEJesus caught the eye with his highenergy display and as part of a youthful front three with Sterling and Sane had City boss Guardiola purringGabriel Jesus is a fighter with an instinct for the goal Hes good at assists too Guardiola told the BBCWe played a front three with an average age of 20 I like the fans to be excited Those players are the future of the clubUnited facing Hull for the third time in 23 days after their League Cup semifinal were thwarted by a determined Jakupovic who saved well from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and even more impressively from substitute Juan MataDaley Blind Marcus Rojo Marcus Rashford and Ibrahimovic missed further chances as United dominated although they almost suffered a stunning defeat when Lazar Markovic hit the post for HullWayne Rooney Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic reactStokes Peter Crouch dusted off his robot dance after opening the scoring against Everton with his 100th Premier League goal after seven minutes finishing on the stretch after Marko Arnautovic had broken the offside trapAt 36 years and two days the former Liverpool and England forward is the oldest player to reach his Premier League centuryThe lead lasted until six minutes before the break when Ryan Shawcross deflected Seamus Colemans shot into his own goal