London, March 2 (IANS) Overwhelming favourites Manchester City dominated Arsenal 3-0 here in an English Premier League (EPL) match just days after beating the capital football giants by the same margin in the EFL Cup final at Wembley.

Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane scored in the first half on Thursday as Pep Guardiola-coached City took a comfortable 16-point lead over second-placed Manchester United in the EPL table.

Only around a third of the seats at the Emirates Stadium were filled amid travel woes associated with the winter storm battering the United Kingdom, though some of the absent Arsenal supporters may count themselves lucky to have missed yet another demoralising defeat, reports Efe.

City took the lead in the 15th minute, courtesy of a strike by Portuguese winger Bernado Silva.

The hosts failed to respond and found themselves trailing 0-2 in the 28th minute after David Silva capped a great combination by Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero by putting the ball past Arsenal keeper Petr Cech as he came out.

Just five minutes later, German winger Sane scored with ease after taking a great pass from Agüero to make it 3-0 for the champions-in-waiting.

Arsenal got an opportunity to get back in the game in the second half when the referee awarded a penalty for a foul by City defender Nicolas Otamendi foul against Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

New acquisition Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took the shot, but City keeper Ederson guessed correctly and turned it aside.

“It’s our third win of the season against Arsenal, which is very good for us,” Ederson was quoted as saying by City’s website.

“We knew how important this game was. We needed the win. We entered the game really focused. We controlled and dominated and got a positive result. We deserved to win.”

The victory lifts City to 75 points, a cushion of 16 over second-place Manchester United.

Arsenal are in sixth place with 45 points, 10 away from the top four.

–IANS
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