16.12.2017 21:04 h

City make it 16 in a row, Ozil cracker downs Newcastle

Manchester City racked up a 16th consecutive Premier League win as the runaway leaders routed Tottenham 4-1, while Mesut Ozil's stunning strike fired Arsenal to a 1-0 success against Newcastle on Saturday.

Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring at Eastlands before Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling netted after the interval to ensure City opened up a 14-point lead over second-placed Manchester United, who face West Brom on Sunday.

Having set the Premier League record for successive wins in their midweek triumph at Swansea, Pep Guardiola's side now have their manager's personal bests in their sights.

City's 16-match winning run in the league equals Guardiola's second longest streak as a boss -- with Barcelona in 2010-11 -- and moves them within three of his career-high 19 successive victories with Bayern Munich in 2013-14.

With the title race turning into a lengthy coronation for City, it would be easy for the leaders to take their eye off the ball, but they were always in control against a Tottenham team who once again flopped in an away game against top-six opponents.

Germany midfielder Gundogan put City in front in the 14th minute with a stooping header from Leroy Sane's cross.

De Bruyne made it two with a blistering finish from Gundogan's pass in the 70th minute.

Gabriel Jesus squandered a chance to make it three when the City forward hit the post with a penalty awarded for Jan Vertonghen's foul on De Bruyne.

But Sterling scored with an 80th minute tap-in and then punished a mistake by Tottenham's Eric Dier to claim his 15th goal of the season.

Christian Eriksen's stoppage-time goal for Tottenham couldn't take the gloss off another City masterclass.

"We played really good to beat one of the strongest teams in the Premier League," Guardiola said.

"Since August we are so happy and I admire the most the way we play without the ball. We are on a good streak."

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea beat Southampton 1-0 to stay 14 points behind City and draw level on points with United.

After a tame opening from the champions, who started with star striker Alvaro Morata on the bench following a back injury, Antonio Conte's side finally opened the scoring in first-half stoppage-time.

Marcos Alonso provided the breakthrough, the Spanish wing-back curling a free-kick past flat-footed Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster from 35 yards.

Chelsea have won eight of their last 10 league matches, but City remain out of reach for now.

"When you do not score the second goal, you have to suffer. You are afraid at every corner and free-kick," Conte said.

"We dominated the game, shooting 24 times, but we needed to score the second to be relaxed."

At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal won for the first time in four league games to boost their bid to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish.

Heavily linked with a move to Manchester United when his contract expires at the end of the season, Ozil showcased his talents for any interested clubs when he put Arsenal ahead in the 23rd minute.

After an Alexis Sanchez shot deflected into Ozil's path, the German midfielder smashed a superb volley past Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot from the edge of the area for his third goal of the season.

Newcastle's eighth defeat in their last nine league games leaves Rafael Benitez's side mired in relegation trouble.

"Ozil's goal was a gem. It's good that he scores important goals," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

West Ham piled pressure on Stoke boss Mark Hughes with a 3-0 win in a match delayed by an hour after a power outage plunged parts of the bet365 Stadium into darkness before kick-off.

West Ham's Mark Noble converted an 19th minute penalty after Erik Pieters fouled Manuel Lanzini and former Stoke striker Marko Arnautovic added a second in the 75th minute.

Diafra Sakho hit the third with four minutes left as West Ham climbed above struggling Stoke into 15th place.

Brighton and Hove Albion's Glenn Murray missed a penalty in his team's 0-0 draw against high-flying Burnley at the Amex Stadium.

Murray won a first-half penalty when he was fouled by James Tarkowski, but the Brighton forward couldn't take advantage as he blazed the spot-kick high over the crossbar.

Huddersfield Town thrashed Watford 4-1 to record their first away win since the opening day of the season.

Elias Kachunga scored Huddersfield's first away goal since August, poking home after Watford failed to clear a sixth-minute corner, and the Terriers doubled their lead through Aaron Mooy in the 23rd minute.

A bad afternoon for Watford got even worse when Troy Deeney was sent off by referee Michael Oliver for a lunge on Collin Quaner in the 33rd minute, making it three red cards in their last three games.

Laurent Depoitre bagged Huddersfield's third in the 50th minute before the visitors had Jonathan Hogg sent off for a second booking.

Watford's Abdoulaye Doucoure got one back with a powerful 68th-minute strike, but Mooy's 89th-minute penalty wrapped up the points.

Christian Benteke put his penalty misery behind him to inspire Crystal Palace to their first away win of the season as 10-man Leicester City were beaten 3-0 at the King Power Stadium.

Benteke scored his first goal since May in a victory that came a week after he defied team orders by taking and missing a crucial penalty against Bournemouth.

After the Belgian striker's 19th-minute opener, he set up Wilfred Zaha for a 40th-minute goal, with Bakary Sako adding the third in the final moments as Palace moved up to 14th place.

Dismal Leicester had birthday boy Wilfred Ndidi sent off for diving in the second half.