Highlights
City slickers
Manchester City 3 West Brom 1: WATCH HIGHLIGHTS – Gabriel Jesus, Kevin de Bruyne and Yaya Toure put City on brink of top four finish
Pep Guardiola's side need just a point against Watford to secure Champions League football
GOALS from Gabriel Jesus, Kevin de Bruyne and Yaya Toure put Manchester City on the brink of a top four finish.
Baggies striker Hal Robson-Kanu grabbed a late consolation to give the travelling supporters something to cheer in a one-way affair at the Etihad.
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Pep Guardiola's side now need just a point at Watford on the final day of the season to secure Champions League football.
City's early dominance soon paid off when Jesus scored his sixth goal in nine appearances when he tapped home Kevin de Bruyne's cross on 27 minutes.
It was the Belgian's 16th assist of the season meaning he broke a club record for the most in a Premier League campaign.
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And the provider then turned goalscorer less than two minutes later when he superbly curled home a loose ball to throw West Brom's gameplan out of the window.
Sergio Aguero should have made it three 10 minutes later but his drilled effort was straight at Ben Foster.
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The Baggies tried to pose more of an attacking threat in the second period but City's dominance proved too much for Tony Pulis' side.
City didn't need to get out of second gear as they stroked the ball around and Yaya Toure eventually put the game to bed on 57 minutes.
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The Ivorian broke the offside trap before slotting the ball past Foster as Guardiola jumped for joy on the touchline.
Robson-Kanu then gave the away fans something to cheer when he finished Allan Nyom's cross with a tidy finish.
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FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS
- It may have been billed as Zabaleta day but there was no room for sentiment from Pep Guardiola. The Argentine full-back started the night on the bench.
- City's women's team celebrated their FA Cup triumph before the game but skipper Steph Houghton was caught out by a sprinkler.
- Gabriel Jesus scored the opener - his sixth Premier League goal in only eight shots.
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- Soon afterwards Jesus repaid the compliment for Kevin de Bruyne - meaning he has now got three assists too.
- Vincent Kompany had the hearts of all Manchester City fans in their mouths when he made a superb last ditch tackle on Salomon Rondon - and got up limping.
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- Who says Sergio Aguero is just a goalscorer? The Argentine ace played a couple of delicious passes to set up City goals.
- Zabaleta finally made his appearance on the hour with City coasting at 3-0. He got a hug from long-term team-mate David Silva - he couldn't really have scripted it any better.
- But a nice touch was Kompany coming off 13 minutes from time and handing the armband to Zaba for the last few minutes.
- Zaba has never made any secret of his love for this club - and the club handed him a lifetime season ticket after.
- Yaya Toure also came off 10 minutes from time with the job done - was it goodbye for him too?
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NEXT FIXTURES
Manchester City: Watford (A), 21 May, Premier League
West Brom: Swansea (A), 21 May, Premier League
BIG PICTURE
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SOCIAL SAYS
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
Manchester City: Caballero 6, Kompany 7 (Stones 77, 6) Otamendi 7, Kolarov 7, Fernandinho 7, Toure 7 (Fernando 81, 6) De Bruyne 8, Silva 7 (Zabaleta 62, 5) Sane 7, Aguero 8, Jesus 8
Subs not used: Gunn, Clichy, Navas, Sterling
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West Brom: Foster 7, Nyom 6, Dawson 5, Evans 6, Wilson 6 (McClean 52, 6), Yacob 6, Chadli 6, Fletcher 6, Livermore 5 (Morrison 64, 6), Brunt 6, Rondon 6 (Robson-Kanu 71, 7)
Subs not used: Myhill, Leko, Field, Wilson
Booked: Sane, Chadli, Dawson
Goals: Jesus (27) De Bruyne (28) Toure (57) Robson-Kanu (87)
STAR MAN: De Bruyne
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WHAT THEY SAID
Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta: "As a football player and as a football fan it was a dream to come to the Premier League.
"I said to my girlfriend, now my wife, let me go to Manchester, I will enjoy it, it will be only for three or four years, so I'll have to say sorry, it's been nine years.
"My favourite moments were when we beat Manchester United in the semi-final at Wembley and the first Premier League we won with Sergio Aguero's goal. The fans had waited so long and we did it in a City way."
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