Manchester City recorded a third successive Premier League victory after comfortably beating Hull 3-0 at the KCOM Stadium on Boxing Day.

Pep Guardiola’s side had to wait before breaking the deadlock, with Yaya Toure’s penalty opening the scoring in the North East 18 minutes from time.

From then on though, there was only going to be one winner, with Kelechi Iheanacho adding a second before Curtis Davies’ own goal put the icing on the cake for City, who returned to second in the table as a result.

It means that Guardiola’s side remain seven points behind league leaders Chelsea, after they beat Bournemouth 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, but it just about keeps City there or thereabouts should the Blues slip up over the coming weeks.

Guardiola’s men have won 12 of their 18 Premier League matches this season, and have also reached the last 16 of the Champions League after a solid group stage campaign, which included an excellent win over Barcelona.

In what has been a strange year at the Etihad, which has seen Manuel Pellegrini replaced and City almost miss out on the top four last season before improving under Guardiola this time around, we thought we’d take a look back at their year, and have selected their top THREE games of 2016…

Manchester City 1-0 Paris Saint Germain (April 12)

Arguably the result that helped announce Manchester City on the European stage, they got the better of Paris Saint Germain 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League earlier this year.

Manuel Pellegrini’s City won a tough group consisting of Juventus, Sevilla, and Borussia Monchengladbach, but lost both games to the former, before beating Dynamo Kiev in the last 16.

However, PSG was another step up and, after a shaky 2-2 draw in Paris, City improved ten-fold both defensively and offensively to deservedly secure a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

Joe Hart was excellent in the City goal while Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala had one of their better games in a City shirt, which allowed Kevin De Bruyne to net what turned out to be the winner 14 minutes from time.

It was City’s biggest win in Europe at the time, and would have no doubt given them a huge psychological boost going into this season’s competition.

Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City (September 10)

It would have been easy to play down the significance of the first Manchester derby of the season, given that it was only a month into the campaign, but it meant a lot as both sides went into it having won their first three games of the season.

However, Guardiola’s men produced a sensational first half display to take the game away from United and secure a fine victory at Old Trafford.

Kevin De Bruyne gave the visitors the lead after just 15 minutes with a fine finish, and Kelechi Iheanacho, in the side after a suspension to Sergio Aguero, reacted quickest to make it 2-0 nine minutes before the break.

It was the least City deserved after an excellent first half, yet they did give United a route back into the game when Claudio Bravo spilled Wayne Rooney’s free-kick into the path of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who fired brilliantly into the back of the net.

Nonetheless, City dealt with everything United threw at them second half, and clinched a significant win and early psychological edge over their neighbours.

Manchester City 3-1 Barcelona (November 1)

Arguably one of City’s best victories in their 122-year history, Guardiola’s men finally recorded a win over a European heavyweight by beating Barcelona 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium last month.

City had been thumped 4-0 at the Nou Camp just two weeks prior to the meeting, and looked set to lose again when Lionel Messi fired the visitors into an early lead.

However, Guardiola’s men responded, and a brace from Ilkay Gundogan, separated by Kevin De Bruyne’s fine free-kick, earned the hosts a deserved and momentous win over Luis Enrique’s side, and all but secured their place in the last 16.

City responded brilliantly to going behind, and produced a performance full of pace, intelligent movement, and quick passing to beat Guardiola’s former employers.

City fans will be hoping for more nights like this under the Spaniard over the coming years.