Manchester City took another big step towards Champions League qualification as they comfortably beat West Bromwich Albion 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium, in Pablo Zabaleta’s last ever home game for the club.
City came into the game off the back of a narrow 2-1 win against Leicester City, with Pep Guardiola’s men looking for another three points in the battle for a Champions League place, against an out-of-form West Brom team that are currently ninth under Tony Pulis.
West Brom were having arguably one of their best ever seasons in the Premier League up to their 3-1 home win against Arsenal. Ever since, they haven’t won in eight league games and have struggled to find their form again. Their previous game was a 1-0 loss to Chelsea at the Hawthorns, with Michy Batshuayi sealing the Premier League title for the Blues.
The game overall was dominated by Manchester City, who controlled the possession and pegged back West Brom into their half for the majority of the tie.
The Citizens took the lead when a Sergio Aguero flick found Kevin De Bruyne, whose darting run and cross found Gabriel Jesus to make it 1-0. This takes the young Brazilian’s goal tally to six goals and three assists in seven Premier League starts for City. City then made it 2-0 through De Bruyne, who hit a great first-time finish after Aguero’s attempted pass to Jesus deflected to the Belgian on the edge of the box.
In the second half, City made it 3-0 through Yaya Toure, after Aguero exchanged passes with Ivorian, who surged into the area to slot past Ben Foster. The Baggies managed to get a consolation goal in the latter stages, with substitute Hal Robson-Kanu turning in Allan Nyom’s cross for 3-1.
With another win under their belt, City could then turn to celebrating Pablo Zabaleta’s last appearance at the Etihad Stadium. Pablo is a popular figure amongst City fans, with his passion and determination recognised and celebrated amongst the City faithful.
After nine years at the club, Zabaleta can now look forward to the latter stages of his career, and who knows, maybe a potential position at City in the future?
Here are our City player ratings for the game:
