Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne bury Arsenal with dominant first half

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Arsenal interim coach Freddie Ljungberg's job just got harder. 

The struggling Gunners fell 3-0 to reigning English Premier League champions Manchester City, with Kevin De Bruyne leading City with a dominant first-half display. 

The Belgian midfielder scored in the second minute. City forward Gabriel Jesus cut the ball back to De Bruyne, and he rocketed his right-footed shot into the roof of Arsenal's net.

Raheem Sterling doubled City's lead nearly a quarter-hour later, off an assist from De Bruyne. 

De Bruyne was not done. In the 40th minute, he curled a left-footed shot from outside the box past Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno to give City a 3-0 lead. 

The first half was a tidy summary of De Bruyne's impact since joining City four years ago, as Opta noted.

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Entering Sunday, Arsenal had won just twice since the start of October. The Gunners came back to beat London rivals West Ham on Monday, but beating the league's highest-scoring side proved to be another matter entirely. 

Hosting Man City has been a very difficult proposition for Arsenal lately. The Gunners now have lost three straight home games to City -- under three different managers. 

Ljungberg won one of his first four matches in charge of Arsenal, going 1-2-1 since taking over for the sacked Unai Emery. The Swede told the BBC last week that he has "been told to work on a game-by-game basis," and Sunday's loss won't keep the eyes of Arsenal's board from wandering toward other coaching candidates. 

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