City were not at their fluent best here but it is perhaps a sign of how far they’ve come that we might expect more from a game in which they beat Arsenal with room to spare. For Arsenal it’s the same old story – they never really looked like pulling off an upset, as they rarely do on the road to the best teams in the Premier League. That’s all from me, thanks for reading – and may I point you in the direction of Chelsea v Manchester United. Bye!

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The whistle blows and City march on, now eight points clear of Manchester United and Spurs and 12 ahead of Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

90+4 min Mesut Ozil barges unnecessarily into Delph and it sums up Arsenal’s day that it is one his most notable contributions.

90+1 min Gundogan takes a hit this time, from Wilshere, who might be lucky not see yellow. This has been a frustrating afternoon for Arsenal.

89 min A free-kick to Man City in an attacking area, after Kolasinac clattered David Silva, who is handed man of the match by Alan Smith on Sky. The set piece comes to nothing.

88 min City steal it and charge. They work it quickly to De Bruyne and suddenly it’s two against one. All he has to do is square the ball for Jesus to finish, but for once De Bruyne gets it wrong and hands the ball over to Koscielny.

86 min Silva does indeed come on, replacing Leroy Sane who gets a friendly clap on the chest from Pep Guardiola.

85 min Bernardo Silva is tucking his shirt in and receiving instructions from someone in a tracksuit holding a clipboard, the surest sign of an imminent substitution.

83 min ‘What did you have for lunch’ is my new favourite phrase. Though Morgan is right – several Arsenal defenders stood there with arms raised rather than reacting and it was a pretty ugly way to concede.

81 min Walker makes a typically surging run down the right but his arcing cross is overhit. A moment later Wilshere shows some nice touches on the ball and he’s wiped out by Jesus as punishment.

79 min Wenger makes a couple of changes: Wilshere and Giroud go on, Iwobi and a fuming Xhaka come off.

That decision...

77 min In fairness to Xhaka, who was booked in the aftermath of the goal, he stepped up cleverly to play Silva offside and it was probably one the assistant should have spotted.

76 min Sterling is replaced by Gundogan.

Was Silva offside? That is the question Arsenal are asking and Xhaka has been booked for his protestations. Fernandinho found the Spaniard down the right of the box who was suddenly in acres. Arsenal arms went up but meanwhile Jesus reacted, charging into the six yard box to turn home Silva’s cross. The replay shows... yes, he was slightly offside.

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70 min The game is opening up a little – it feels like there is still something more to come.

69 min Sanchez cheekily finds Kolasinac on the overlap with a no-look pass, who finds Ozil but the Germany midfielder doesn’t make anything of the opportunity. He is having one of those very quiet days.

67 min Brilliant by Cech, who slides across his goalline like a superhero to deny a low powerful strike from Gabriel Jesus, who had been lurking at the back post at the corner. Moments earlier Sane had slammed a close-range volley which was well blocked. City have turned it up a notch.

65 min Shocking that the £50m striker with a brilliant goalscoring record might get a goal. He had been on less than 10 minutes, but why didn’t he start?

Suddenly they have one back – Lacazette is freed on the right side of the box, and takes one touch to control before firing a low shot past Ederson into the far corner.

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62 min Gabriel Jesus has still not lost a single game in English football, a remarkable run of 27 games which probably isn’t going to end this afternoon. I seem to remember Gareth Bale had the opposite run at Spurs.

61 min Sergio Aguero makes his way off and he doesn’t look delighted by the decision. He trudges away to an ovation from the crowd, offering a little salute before handing over to Gabriel Jesus.

59 min Arsenal are having to commit higher up the field and it is resulting in some joy, pinching the ball in good positions. But they are struggling to make it count and subsequently City look like they might break at any moment.

57 min “Is shoulder to shoulder not ok anymore, didn’t see much wrong with the tackle for the penalty,” emails Mel Lynam in Berlin. I thought it was a little more clumsy – and from behind – than just shoulder to shoulder.

56 min The first change of the match: Coquelin comes off and Lacazette replaces him, which presumably means Arsenal are switching to a back four.

55 min Ederson survives a potentially disastrous moment, dropping a routine catch behind him. He manages to turn and prevent the ball bouncing over his line before Ramsey cheekily pushes him into the goal and concedes a foul.

53 min The City fans find their voice and their team suddenly look in the mood. Silva tries one of those long arcing low passes which De Bruyne has pulled off a few times this season, but it’s a touch overhit and he can’t pick out Sterling on the opposite side.

51 min Assuming it was deliberate, De Bruyne just played one of the most extraordinary passes of the season, volleying a looping ball on the spin over his head to David Silva. It didn’t matter much and it didn’t get much attention, but it was mighty audacious.

Chasing back after a ball over the top of the Arsenal defence, Monreal clatters into Sterling dribbling into the box who was about to have a clear sight of goal. It’s a booking, and Sergio Aguero scores from the spot via the post.

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48 min Penalty to Manchester City!

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47 min The way Otamendi and Stones fizz passes through midfield to Silva and De Bruyne is brilliant to watch. This time Silva plays a first-time pass wide for Delph who advances down the left, but the move comes to nothing. Re our half-time Sterling discussion:

Arsenal get things back under way at the Etihad. No changes by either side at the break.

Alexis Sanchez, meanwhile, seems a way from the striker who scored 24 league goals last season.

Watching a replay of that De Bruyne goal, it really was reminiscent of his strike against Chelsea, working a one-two at high speed before leathering his left foot through the ball into the right corner of the goal. Not brilliantly defended, admittedly, but yet another example of his supreme talent.

A half-time email from Richard Harris: “How many years do you think it will be before pundits stop talking up Sterling’s potential and conclude like most have now done with Walcott that he’s never reached it?” I think that might be a little harsh on a 22-year-old having a very good season so far. He was not quite at it in the first half but I wouldn’t bet against him having a say in the second.

De Bruyne’s well-taken goal is the difference at the break. Arsenal have had their moments, but if Sterling and Sane had been a little more clinical in the final third City might have been out of sight. An interesting half to follow.

45 min And then out of nowhere Ramsey almost equalises! His low shot is well saved but Ederson at his near post, the sort that might not have been kept out last season.

44 min Silva fouls Iwobi in the middle of the pitch. It’s all gone a bit quiet.

43 min A scrappy couple of minutes. Arsenal look the more likely to make one last chance before the break.

41 min Another Arsenal corner leads to another City counterattack. They might be safer kicking all set-pieces off for a City throw-in.

39 min Coquelin puts Monreal under pressure on the edge of Arsenal’s box with an underhit pass. City pinch it and come forwards but Silva delivers a rare miss which ends up in the stands.

37 min I have been informed via Sandipto Dasgupta‏ on Twitter that Guardiola’s yellow ribbon is in support of Catalan political prisoners. On the pitch, meanwhile, City have another half chance but Koscielny does well to prevent Sane getting on the end of another one of those low flashing crosses, this time by Kyle Walker.

35 min Oh dear! This had to be 2-0 as De Bruyne, again, fed Sterling cleverly to set up a two on one in Arsenal’s half. All Sterling had to do was square to Sane but he boomed the pass beyond his team-mate, to Guardiola’s understandable ire on the touchline.

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32 min That threat almost produces a second goal as De Bruyne feeds Silva under-lapping towards the byline, but Sterling decides to lurk on the penalty spot rather than gamble and can’t get to the cross.

31 min The game has quietened down slightly. This isn’t the rampant City we have come to take for granted in recent weeks but they seem in control and constantly simmering with threat.

30 min I have to admit this isn’t something I know the answer to but perhaps someone reading does...

28 min Arsenal defend the initial corner but the second and third waves of attack quickly follow. Eventually Cech relieves the pressure, rushing off his line and sliding under Aguero to claim the ball.

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