Man City rout Tottenham to extend record winning streak

Manchester City trounced Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 to extend their record winning streak in the English Premier League (EPL) to 16 consecutive games.

City grabbed the lead at the Etihad Stadium here on Saturday evening when German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan scored with a header off a corner in the 14th minute, reports Efe news agency.

Despite the deficit, Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was arguably the man of the match in the first half as his heroics stymied Sergio Aguero in a one-on-on opportunity and also kept a strike from Gundogan from finding the back of the net.

In the second half, Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne showed his toughness by limping off a hard challenge in the 68th minute by Dele Alli, who picked up a yellow card on the play, and then finishing off a remarkable counterattack two minutes later to give Man City a 2-0 lead.

The game was all but over at that juncture, but the hosts tacked on two more goals on a pair of strikes by Raheem Sterling in the 80th and 90th minutes.

Tottenham, for their part, finally got on the board with a powerful left-footed stoppage-time goal from the edge of the box by Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen.

Manchester City, who had set the record for the longest-ever winning streak in the 129-year history of the EPL with a 4-0 rout of Swansea FC in their previous match on Wednesday, now have 52 points with 18 matches played.

City's nearest challenger, crosstown rivals Manchester United, have 38 points but can close the gap to 11 with a road win Sunday against West Bromwich Albion.

Tottenham are currently in seventh place with 31 points.

In other EPL action Saturday, third-placed Chelsea defeated Southampton 1-0, fourth-placed Arsenal topped Newcastle United 1-0 and fifth-placed Burnley stumbled to a 0-0 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion.

West Ham United routed Stoke City 3-0 while Huddersfield Town crushed Watford 4-1.

--IANS

ajb/mr