Kevin De Bruyne sees off Arsenal to give Manchester City upper hand in title race

When Kevin De Bruyne made it 3-0 early in the second half, his second goal of the evening an almost casual finish, there were four Arsenal players in the vicinity who bent forward at the waist, utterly broken, simply wanting to take on a bit of oxygen. This is what it feels like to run into a juggernaut.

City were remorseless from the first whistle, an irresistible blend of pace, power and cohesion, intent on making it plain to the pretenders to their Premier League throne that they are in no mood to stand down.

Mikel Arteta had said beforehand his Arsenal team had to win to remain in contention. They had drawn their previous three matches, the last two against West Ham and Southampton prompting harsh questions about their ability to handle the pressure.

To be clear – Arsenal have not bottled it. They have defied expectations to have an excellent season. They are just not on the same level as City, particularly in this kind of mood. Nobody is, perhaps in the whole of Europe. No club has their talent or the depth of it.

It was a night when Erling Haaland ran riot, scaring the life out of those in red – adding a late fourth from an assist from the substitute, Phil Foden – De Bruyne stepped up and yet it was possible to praise every player in sky blue. Rob Holding’s late goal was a hollow consolation. It is now 17 matches for City in all competitions without defeat, 14 of them wins – and two of the draws not affecting Champions League progress. They have now won 12 straight against Arsenal in the league. They look unstoppable.

Arteta made it clear that the tension and opportunity were there to be embraced but there was only one team that did so at the outset, City simply tearing into Arsenal. There was a desire to press