Tottenham Hotspur's English striker Harry Kane (L) spins past Manchester City's Argentinian defender Nicolas Otamendi during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 16, 2017. - AFP

LONDON: Manchester City racked up a 16th consecutive Premier League win as the runaway leaders routed Tottenham 4-1 yesterday. 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 Bromwich Albion 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.

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.

Mark Noble, Marko Arnautovic and Diafra Sakho scored for the visitors as West Ham climbed above Stoke into 15th place. Brighton's Glenn Murray missed a penalty in his team's 0-0 draw against high-flying Burnley at the Amex Stadium.

Huddersfield thrashed Watford 4-1 to record their first away win since the opening day of the season. Elias Kachunga and Aaron Mooy scored for Huddersfield before Watford's Troy Deeney was sent off, making it three red cards in their last three games.

Laurent Depoitre bagged Huddersfield's third before the visitors had Jonathan Hogg sent off. Watford's Abdoulaye Doucoure, but Mooy's 89th-minute penalty wrapped up the points. - AFP