Football
ESPN staff 6y

Man City break Arsenal's English top-flight record for consecutive wins

Manchester City surpassed Arsenal's record winning run in English top-flight football with Wednesday night's 4-0 victory at Swansea City to make it 15 wins in a row.

A David Silva brace -- with one coming either side of half-time -- and a Kevin De Bruyne free kick all before the hour mark along with a fourth from Sergio Aguero late on allowed Man City to cruise to the record-setting win.

City also set a new record for consecutive wins in all competitions this season, a run which ended at 20 matches with defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League last week.

Ten different players have scored for City during their winning run, with all bar Delph and Bernardo Silva scoring multiple goals -- even defender Otamendi has four. Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling have contributed eight goals apiece.

Here is a list of how other teams' run match up.

THE PREMIER LEAGUE'S LONGEST WINNING RUNS

15 wins -- Manchester City (2017-18 - still active)

Pep Guardiola's streak started at the end of August with a 2-1 win away at Bournemouth, and it included a 6-0 victory at Watford and 5-0 wins against both Liverpool and Crystal Palace. And they also hit seven against Stoke City. They had already claimed the outright record for consecutive wins in one season, as Arsenal's run of victories spanned across two campaigns.

14 wins -- Arsenal (February-August 2002)

Arsene Wenger's side finished their 2001-02 title-winning campaign with 13 successive wins and then beat Birmingham 2-0 in the opening game of the next, before a 2-2 draw with West Ham ended the run. It was the longest ever winning run in the English top flight, equalled in the second division by Manchester United in 1904-05, Bristol City the following season and Preston in 1950-51.

13 wins -- Chelsea (October-December 2016)

Antonio Conte's Blues were last season's answer to this City side and after a slow start to the season they found their stride with wins over Hull and Leicester. A statement 4-0 thumping of Jose Mourinho's Manchester United, a 5-0 rout of Everton and victories against Tottenham and City and provided the highlights of the eventual champions' run, which was ended by Spurs in their first game of 2017.

12 wins -- Manchester United (March-August 2000)

United won the 1999-2000 title by a thumping 18-point margin, rounding off the season with 11 straight wins and scoring 37 goals in the process - the run included 4-0 wins over Bradford and Sunderland, a 4-3 success at Middlesbrough and a 7-1 dismissal of West Ham featuring a Paul Scholes hat trick. They opened the following season with a 2-0 win over Newcastle before drawing 1-1 against Ipswich.

11 wins -- Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United

Liverpool (February-April 2014): Their title challenge was powered by the club's longest winning run in the Premier League, which itself brought 38 goals for a free-flowing side fronted by Luis Suarez. It was memorably ended by defeat to Chelsea after Steven Gerrard's unfortunate slip before, having been 3-0 up with 11 minutes to play, they capitulated to draw with Crystal Palace.

Man City (April-September 2015): City's previous best run came as they finished Premier League runners-up to Chelsea despite winning their final six games of the 2014-15 campaign. They opened the next season with five more, before West Ham put a stop to their run, but failed to challenge surprise champions Leicester.

Chelsea (April-September 2009): Guus Hiddink's first spell as the Blues' interim manager ended -- in league terms at least -- with successive wins over West Ham, Fulham, Arsenal, Blackburn and Sunderland. Carlo Ancelotti then opened up with six straight wins to establish the club record broken by Conte's side. The 11-match run was surprisingly ended by Wigan with the help of a Petr Cech dismissal and goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner. Regardless, Chelsea went on to win the league and FA Cup double.

Man United (December 2008-March 2009): Following United's return from the Club World Cup and against the backdrop of the memorable press conference at which Rafael Benitez, then manager of title rivals Liverpool, read out his list of "facts,'' the Red Devils won 11 in a row. Liverpool themselves ended the run by winning 4-1 at Old Trafford but Sir Alex Ferguson's men finished four points ahead to claim a third straight title.

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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