Manchester City reignited the Premier League title race with a commanding 3-0 victory over Chelsea on Sunday, cutting the deficit on leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s side delivered a ruthless spell just after the restart, as Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi found the net within six minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Jeremy Doku sealed an emphatic win to make sure Manchester City capitalised on Arsenal’s surprising 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Second-placed City are now just six points adrift of Arsenal with a game in hand, setting the stage for a huge clash with the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium on April 19.
Having beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final and thrashed Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, City are hitting form at just the right time.
Their bid for a seventh English title under Pep Guardiola had appeared to be slipping after successive draws against strugglers West Ham United and Nottingham Forest in their previous league outings.
A disjointed first-half display against Chelsea further raised concerns that Manchester City might squander a golden opportunity to heap pressure on leaders Arsenal.
But Guardiola’s half-time team-talk had the desired effect and City can now target next weekend’s do-or-die visit from Mikel Arteta’s spluttering team.
If City win that blockbuster clash, they will be within three points of Arsenal, who blew substantial leads in the 2023 and 2024 title races, allowing Guardiola’s men to pip them to the trophy.
City have won 29 of their 32 league games in the month of April in recent seasons, underlining their ability to thrive when the title pressure mounts.
After winning their first four league matches following Liam Rosenior’s arrival from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca, Chelsea have won just one of their last seven, losing three in a row to leave the Blues boss facing some difficult questions.
Chelsea, who haven’t beaten City since the 2021 Champions League final, were again without Enzo Fernandez after Rosenior’s controversial decision to drop the Argentine midfielder for hinting he might leave in the summer.
Cherki sparkles
Sixth-placed Chelsea looked subdued without Fernandez and they trail four points behind Liverpool in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top-five finish.
Lacking energy and cohesion in a sloppy start, City were fortunate not to fall behind when Marc Cucurella’s clinical finish was disallowed for a tight offside.
City also let Pedro Neto in far too easily for a stinging strike that forced Gianluigi Donnarumma to save at his near post.
It took Manchester City 35 minutes to threaten, with Bernardo Silva denied by Robert Sanchez from close range.
After the break, City took control as Nico O’Reilly opened the scoring with a header from Rayan Cherki’s cross. Cherki then turned provider again, setting up Marc Guehi to fire home City’s second.
A defensive error from Chelsea gifted the third, as Jeremy Doku capitalised on a loose pass from Moises Caicedo to seal an emphatic win.
