Jesus fires Manchester City
Crouch reaches 100 PL goals in Everton draw
Gabriel Jesus opened his Manchester City account in a 4-0 stroll at West Ham United on Wednesday that sent his side level with fourth-place Liverpool in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola's team took full advantage of slip-ups by the other teams in the leading pack on Tuesday to move level on points with Liverpool, 10 points below leaders Chelsea.
"Gabriel Jesus is a fighter with an instinct for the goal," beamed Guardiola of his 27 million pound recruit from Palmeiras. "He's good at assists too."
Manchester United could not follow suit, however, a damaging 0-0 draw at home to struggling Hull City leaving Jose Mourinho's men four points below Liverpool and City in sixth place.
Just a point now separates the teams sitting second, third, fourth and fifth, with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal level on 47 points, a point above Liverpool and City.
Guardiola made two bold selection choices at West Ham's London Stadium, dropping goalkeeper Claudio Bravo for Willy Caballero and keeping City talisman Sergio Aguero on the bench.
And it worked as the visitors streaked into a 3-0 lead inside 39 minutes through goals by Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and 19-year-old Brazil starlet Jesus.
In the 67th minute, Yaya Toure made it 4-0 from the penalty spot.
"We played a front three with an average age of 20. I like the fans to be excited," Guardiola told BT Sport.
"Those players are the future of the club. They will be important players for the next few years."
Hull's draw at Old Trafford gave them a small measure of revenge for last week's League Cup semi-final defeat at Manchester United's hands.
"We didn't score. You don't score, it is not possible to win. Their goalkeeper was good," Mourinho said in a terse post-match interview. "They had the feedback and were comfortable to do what they did. I am not critical of that. They are fighting against relegation and every point is gold."
The point took Hull off the foot of the table, but Marco Silva's much improved side are still four points from safety.
Everton remain seventh, nine points below the Champions League places, after a 1-1 draw at Stoke City.
Peter Crouch gave Stoke an early lead with his 100th Premier League goal, but Ryan Shawcross turned Seamus Coleman's cross into his own net in the 39th minute to give the visitors a point.