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Manchester City's Nicolas Otamendi, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) XAF128
Manchester City's Nicolas Otamendi, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson) XAF128
Published Dec. 10, 2017

Soccer

manchester city keeps up record pace with win over manchester united

MANCHESTER, England — Surely nothing can stop Manchester City now.

The race for the English Premier League title is turning into a procession after City beat fierce rival Manchester United 2-1 on Sunday, extending its lead to 11 points in a record-breaking start. City's 14th straight victory is a record run in a single top-flight season. No team has had this many points — 46 — after 16 games in the league. To put City's form into context, 46 points would have secured eighth place last season. And it's only early December in a season that ends in May.

Pep Guardiola's team is doing it in style, too. Having already beaten Liverpool 5-0 and overwhelmed Chelsea in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, City went to Old Trafford to play the other member of the current top four and had 65 percent possession and almost twice the number of shots.

"You cannot be champions in December," Guardiola said, trying to downplay expectations. "But it's important for our confidence to feel that we can compete on big stages with huge personality."

For most of the first half and in the final stages of the second, United was overrun in a stadium where it hadn't lost in any competition since September 2016 — against City, 41 home games ago.

Given its eye-catching style of play, City's two goals couldn't have been scrappier. Both came from defensive mistakes by United striker Romelu Lukaku at set pieces, with David Silva (in the 43rd minute) and Nicolas Otamendi (54th) the gleeful recipients with close-range finishes.

United's Marcus Rashford tied the score at 1 in first-half injury time, benefiting from a defensive mistake by Otamendi, and United manager Jose Mourinho was left to bemoan the failure of the referee to award a penalty for what he thought was a trip by Otamendi on Ander Herrera. Instead, Herrera was booked for simulation.

"We can speak about anything you want," Mourinho said, "bring any football theory, bring any stats, ball possession. … But like last season, there is a huge penalty (not awarded) in a crucial moment of the game."

Guardiola, unsurprisingly, saw it differently. "We won," he said, "because we were better."

More EPL: In the other neighborly rivalry on derby day, Wayne Rooney converted a penalty to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Arsenal scored in the 88th minute for a 1-1 draw at Southampton in the day's other game. Fourth-place Liverpool and fifth-place Arsenal can only realistically think about second place now.

Spain: Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored after Villarreal was reduced to 10 men to give host Barcelona a 2-0 win that maintained its lead in the league. Messi has a league-best 14 goals.

et cetera

Alpine skiing: After injuring her back in a World Cup race, Lindsey Vonn withdrew from another scheduled super-G before the race was canceled due to fog in St. Moritz, Switzerland. "I am extremely disappointed, but my biggest goal this season is (next year's) Olympics," the American star wrote on Twitter. Vonn won the downhill at the 2010 Games but missed the 2014 Games due to injury. Vonn jarred her back Saturday early in a super-G on the same St. Moritz course and completed the race in obvious pain in 24th place.

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Boxing: Vasyl Lomachenko defended his WBO 130-pound title when Guillermo Rigondeaux's corner stopped their fight after six rounds because Rigondeaux was complaining of pain in his left hand late Saturday in New York. Lomachenko was easily winning the first pro match between two-time Olympic gold medalists when Rigondeaux's trainers called for the match to be stopped. Promoter Dino Duva said doctors believed the hand could be broken and were sending Rigondeaux to a hospital for X-rays. Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs), from Ukraine, earned his seventh straight victory by stoppage. Rigondeaux, from Cuba, lost for the first time in his 18 pro fights.

Times wires