Manchester City registered their 13th consecutive win in all competitions as they narrowly defeated West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at the Hawthorns, in a game that should have been more comfortable for the Citizens.
The Citizens came into the game off the back of two tough games at home against Burnley and Wolves, in which they beat the Clarets 3-0 in the league and Wolves 4-1 on penalties in the Carabao Cup. City sat five points clear of nearest rivals Manchester United, who earlier in the day had beaten title rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 to close the gap to two points.
The away side took the lead after Leroy Sane’s powerful strike flew past Baggies keeper Ben Foster from 15 yards, which put the German on eight goals for the season. The home side hit back within minutes as Gareth Barry’s threaded pass found Jay Rodriguez, who saw his lobbed effort elude Ederson to make it 1-1. City struck back just two minutes later as this time Sane returned the favour to Fernandinho, whose long-range effort took a deflection off Barry and the post before finding the net.
After the break, West Brom looked to soak up the pressure from the away side’s ruthless attack and were punished when substitute Raheem Sterling made an instant impact to tap in his ninth goal of the season after Kyle Walker’s driven cross found him unmarked. There was some late drama as Nicolas Otamendi’s chested back-pass sent Matt Phillips through to convert past Ederson to decrease the deficit.
This victory retains City’s five point advantage over Manchester United as they looked to build momentum before a tough week involving Napoli and Arsenal.
Here are our player ratings from the match,
