Manchester City 3 West Brom 1 - Report
Albion have now lost their last 11 meetings with Manchester City. Many of them have been one-sided, but few as one-sided as this.
Outplayed until a final flourish at the end, Albion's season-weary squad rarely laid a glove on Pep Guardiola's expensively assembled team of superstars.
Two classy goals in two first-half minutes from Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne took the pressure off City, who needed to win to keep them in the box seat to secure Champions League football next year.
Yaya Toure added a painfully-simple third twelve minutes after half-time, and City could have had more before Hal Robson-Kanu grabbed a consolation four minutes from time.
Although that goal was a welcome one for a team short of confidence in the final third, it didn't stop the Baggies finally dropping down to ninth in the table, having been eighth for the whole of 2017.
Claudio Yacob was rewarded for his combative performance from the bench against Chelsea with a starting place ahead of 19-year-old Sam Field.
Nacer Chadli was reinstated to the line-up ahead of James McClean and Marc Wilson came in for the injured Gareth McAuley, allowing Pulis to shift Craig Dawson into centre-back.
Guardiola named a frightening line-up with both Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus starting.
City's fluid front five clicked into gear straightaway, but Yacob picked up where he left off on Friday, and put in two important challenges early on.
Twelve minutes in, Leroy Sane nutmegged Allan Nyom and burst into the box before going to ground under pressure but referee Craig Pawson correctly waved away the penalty appeals.
Aleksander Kolarov forced Ben Foster to tip a free-kick around the post, before Dawson miscontrolled a high ball and let Aguero in.
The Argentinian found Sane in acres of space on the left, but he screwed his shot wide when he should have done much better.
It was clear from the outset that chances were going to be hard to come by for Albion, so Pulis understandably turned away in disgust when Salomon Rondon hit Nicolas Otamendi trying to shoot from inside his own half after the City defender had gifted him possession.
The Baggies were getting pushed back further and further, so when Willy Caballero caught a Nacer Chadli free-kick, the home crowd got excited when, for a brief moment, Albion didn't have 10 men behind the ball.
That came to nothing, but City weren't to be denied for long, and just before the half-hour mark, two goals in two minutes killed the game.
The first was made by a gorgeous Aguero flick through Dawson's legs to the onrushing De Bruyne. The Belgian powered to the byline while holding off two Albion players before squaring it to Jesus at the back post for an easy tap in and a sixth goal on his seventh Premier League start.
Albion had barely caught their breath and they were two down. Evans stopped the ball from reaching Aguero in the box, but it popped out to De Bruyne on the edge of the area and he curled a sumptous finish into Foster's far corner.
City started to have fun after that, flooding forward at every opportunity. Only a couple of offside calls denied them before Jesus attempted a bicycle kick.
Chris Brunt and Rondon did manage a couple of pot-shots in first-half injury time, but in truth, it was as one-sided as the recent head-to-head record suggested it would be.
Pulis brought McClean on for Wilson five minutes after the break and moved Brunt to left-back, but wave after wave of sky blue shirts kept coming.
Fernanindho should have been booked for diving in the penalty area when there was no challenge from McClean, but City didn't need to cheat to get ahead.
In the 57th minute, Toure made it three with a goal Albion should never have conceded.
The midfielder picked up the ball from deep, played a simple one-two with Aguero, who was followed by Dawson, and rolled the ball past Foster easily.
Knowing the game was safe, Guardiola then gave Pablo Zabaleta his moment, bringing the right-back on for his final home game in City colours.
Pulis threw James Morrison and Hal Robson-Kanu on, and that seemed to reinvigorate the team.
The substitute striker grabbed a consolation goal four minutes from time, tucking home Nyom's drilled cross to score his third goal of the season.
Pulis is heading over to China on Monday to persuade owner Guochuan Lai to release some funds this summer.
The Baggies are never going to match City's expenditure, but this small squad does need strengthening if it's going to sustain its form over the whole of a season.
Thanks to the teams behind them stuttering, Albion can't finish any lower than 11th, but may need something on the final day against Swansea to guarantee the top 10 place Lai asked Pulis to deliver earlier in the season.
KEY MOMENTS
27 GOAL CITY - Gorgeous flick from Aguero finds De Bruyne, who bursts to the byline before crossing to find Jesus at the back post for a tap in.
29 GOAL CITY - A bouncing ball pops out to De Bruyne on the edge of the area and he curls it into the far corner.
57 GOAL CITY - Toure plays a simple one-two with Aguero and rolls the ball past Foster.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Sergio Aguero - Had a hand in two of the goals.
POSITION IN THE TABLE
9th, with 45 points from 37 games.
TEAMS
Albion (4-5-1): Foster; Nyom, Dawson, Evans, M Wilson (McClean 52); Brunt, Livermore (Morrison 64), Yacob, Fletcher (c), Chadli; Rondon (Robson-Kanu 70). Unused subs: Myhill, K Wilson, Field, Leko.
Manchester City (4-1-4-1): Caballero; Fernandinho, Kompany (c) (Stones 75), Otamendi, Kolarov; Toure (Reges 80); Sane, De Bruyne, Silva (Zabaleta 59) Jesus; Aguero. Unused subs: Gunn, Clichy, Sterling, Navas.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
