Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/728388
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2016 Sport 50 FOOTBALL FORMULA 1 De Bruyne stars as Manchester City destroy Bournemouth with attacking masterclass MANCHESTER City maintained their 100 per cent start to the Pre- mier League season as Bourne- mouth were swept aside 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola's men - who beat rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend and then Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League - took the lead on 15 minutes when Kevin de Bruyne curled a low free-kick un- der the wall. Kelechi Iheanacho doubled City's advantage following a swift counter-attack in the 24th min- ute. England winger Raheem Ster- ling made it 3-0 from close range on 48 minutes, with Ilkay Gundogan marking his Premier League debut with a fourth goal on 66 minutes. City, though, finished the match with 10 men after Nolito was shown a straight red card on 86 minutes for putting his head to- wards Adam Smith's face. Everton moved back up into second place, two points behind City, with a 3-1 win over Mid- dlesbrough in the late kick-off at Goodison Park, where Toffees midfielder Gareth Barry celebrat- ed his 600th Premier League ap- pearance with a goal. It was the visitors, promoted from the Sky Bet Championship last season, who took the lead on 21 minutes. Alvaro Negredo got up to meet George Friend's cross, but looked to have knocked against Maarten Stekelenburg as the ball went in off the goalkeeper. Everton levelled within three minutes, Barry firing home after Boro keeper Victor Valdes failed to deal with a corner. Seamus Coleman made it 2-1 on 41 minutes with a well-taken individual goal before Romelu Lukaku, who scored a hat-trick in the win over Sunderland last time out, was credited with the fi- nal touch from Yannick Bolasie's cross in first-half stoppage time. West Brom beat West Ham 4-2 at The Hawthorns, where Nacer Chadli scored twice and had a hand in their other two goals. Chadli, signed from Tottenham in the summer, put the Baggies ahead from the penalty spot on eight minutes after Arthur Mas- uaku handled a free-kick. The Belgium midfielder then turned provider on 37 minutes when he picked out Salmon Ron- don in the Irons box. James McClean diverted Chad- li's shot past the keeper and Chadli himself made it 4-0 on 56 minutes after being set up by Rondon. The Hammers were beaten 4-2 at home by Watford last weekend after throwing away a 2-0 lead, and looked to produce a come- back of their own when Michail Antonio headed in on 61 minutes before Manuel Lanzini netted a penalty five minutes later. However, West Brom closed out for a second Premier League win, which leaves Slaven Bilic's men having now lost four successive matches in all competitions. Arsenal moved into third place with a 4-1 win at Hull, who saw makeshift defender Jake Liver- more sent off at the end of the first half. The Gunners went in front on 17 minutes when Alex Iwobi's shot was deflected in by Alexis Sanchez. Hull were reduced to 10 men just before half-time when Liver- more handled a goal-bound shot from Francis Coquelin and was sent off. Sanchez took the result- ing penalty, which was saved by goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. Arsenal's extra man was finally made to count when Theo Wal- cott added a second goal on 55 minutes, his angled shot going in off defender Harry Maguire. The home side gave themselves hope with 11 minutes left when Robert Snodgrass scored from the penalty spot. Sanchez, though, hit a third for Arsenal on 83 minutes, with Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka netting his first goal for the Gun- ners with a long-range shot in stoppage time. Leicester's £29million record signing Islam Slimani marked his Premier League debut with a brace as the champions beat Burnley 3-0 at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Algeria frontman Slimani, signed from Sporting Lisbon, headed in a free- kick. Slimani - who played in the 3-0 midweek Champions League win away at Club Brugge - bagged his second three minutes after the restart when nodding in a cross from Riyad Mahrez. On 78 minutes, Burnley defend- er Ben Mee diverted a cross from Mahrez into his own net. Raheem Sterling celebrates after scoring Manchester City's third Rosberg storms to pole for Singapore GP NICO Rosberg flew to pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Ham- ilton, as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel dropped out in Q1. Rosberg posted a rapid 1:42.584 on the opening Q3 runs, some seven tenths clear of nearest rival Hamil- ton, a time nobody would beat. Daniel Ricciardo was able to jump Hamilton with his second lap, how- ever, as Max Verstappen grabbed fourth, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. Intriguingly for Sunday's Grand Prix, Red Bull was the only team to post its fastest Q2 lap times on the Super Soft tyre, with all other drivers using the Ultra Soft compound. Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat cemented Toro Rosso's strong free practice form in sixth and seventh, ahead of the Force India drivers and Fernando Alonso's McLaren-Honda. Nico Hülkenberg grabbed eighth, while Alonso edged out Sergio Pérez. Jenson Button was unable to follow team-mate Alonso through to Q3 after he tapped the wall and picked up a left-rear puncture on his final lap, which forced him to pull off the track. Esteban Gutiérrez and the afore- mentioned Grosjean took 14th and 15th for Haas, while Marcus Erics- son gave Sauber its first Q2 run since the Hungarian Grand Prix, four races ago. Renault's tough 2016 season con- tinued with another double Q1 elimination, Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer taking 17th and 19th, surrounding the other Sauber of Felipe Nasr. Manor drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon, adrift of the pack from final practice, also slotted ahead of Vettel, with six tenths of a second separating the Mercedes-backed youngsters. Vettel suffered a surprise Q1 exit after reporting that his anti-roll bar felt broken, an issue that prevented him from posting a representative lap, and left him at the back, five sec- onds off the pace. Vettel, whose left-front wheel was lifted into the air, lamented that it was "stupid" to continue, with Fer- rari mechanics unable to carry out repairs when he eventually returned to the pits. It remains to be seen if Ferrari will need to break parc ferme rules to fix Vettel's car.