Man City heap pressure on Arsenal ahead of title showdown
City win 3-0 to go six points behind Gunners, while Spurs are defeated in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game
Football writer Ben McAleer looks at the talking points from Sunday’s Premier League action, including key results in the title race and battle to avoid the drop.
Manchester City capitalised upon Arsenal’s defeat to AFC Bournemouth to boost their title chances with a 3-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
“We have to win every single game,” Pep Guardiola stated ahead of Man City’s trip to Stamford Bridge. After Arsenal’s slip-up against the Cherries on Saturday, City had the perfect chance to close the gap on the league leaders, which they grabbed with both hands.
Captain Bernardo Silva continued in the Man City midfield, in the process becoming the Portuguese player with the most Premier League appearances in the competition’s history, with 297.
Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella had the ball in the back of the net with 15 minutes on the clock following some good work by Joao Pedro, though it was correctly ruled out for offside.
Man City felt they should have had a penalty early in the second half, only to find the breakthrough in the 51st minute as Nico O’Reilly headed Rayan Cherki’s cross past Robert Sanchez.
Watch: All of O’Reilly’s league goals this season
Cherki turned provider for the second time six minutes later, picking out Chelsea academy graduate Marc Guehi, who registered his first league goal since his January switch to Man City.
And Guardiola’s side were three goals to the good with 20 minutes to go as Jeremy Doku robbed Moises Caicedo of possession before finishing past Sanchez for his second goal of the campaign.
Cucurella and Cole Palmer both fashioned half-chances in the dying embers in the capital, the latter from a free-kick, but Gianluigi Donnarumma was on hand to deny the Blues pair.
Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat means they have lost three successive league games for the first time since May 2023.
Man City, with a game in hand, will take confidence from the resounding victory ahead of next weekend’s huge showdown versus Arsenal, in what will be a decisive match in the title race.
Watch: Owen on Man City v Arsenal showdown
“Are you watching Arsenal?” the jubilant away support chanted, and for good reason. Across their final 10 games in the last five Premier League seasons, City have lost just one of 43 matches, winning 32 times.
“The fans are happy, we are happier,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
From one end of the table to the other.
Tottenham Hotspur, in their first game under Roberto De Zerbi, made the lengthy trip to Sunderland.
Relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, hosted Aston Villa, following up Thursday’s UEFA Europa League 3-1 win at Bologna.
In a cagey affair at the Stadium of Light, Spurs were awarded a penalty midway through the first half at Sunderland, but following a VAR review, referee Rob Jones reversed his decision.
Spurs, who are still yet to win a spot-kick this season, received a boost moments later as Forest fell behind to UEFA Champions League chasing Villa through a Murillo own goal.
Fifteen minutes later and the Tricky Trees were level as Neco Williams rifled past Marco Bizot, scoring his second league goal of the season in the process.
It means that only four defenders have more goal involvements than the five of the Wales international in the Premier League this season.
On the hour mark in Sunderland, the relegation battle took another twist as Nordi Mukiele’s left-footed effort deflected off Micky van de Ven and past Antonin Kinsky in a cruel twist of fate for Spurs.
The Black Cats have now not lost any of their last 10 league matches when scoring first.
Mukiele’s goal means Spurs have now failed to win any of their last 32 league matches after conceding first in the Premier League, last doing so against Villa in November 2024.
Romero injury a concern for De Zerbi
To compound matters, De Zerbi’s side suffered a further blow with 20 minutes to go when Cristian Romero was forced off following a collision with Kinsky.
Spurs ultimately went down with a whimper, falling to a 1-0 loss, while Forest’s point against Villa saw Vitor Pereira’s side go three clear of the bottom three.
For Spurs, the result extended their winless run to 14 matches. Only Derby County (18 matches), Sunderland and (17) Swindon Town (15) have made longer winless starts to a calendar year, and all three were relegated that same season.
“We have to work on one win because with one win we can change everything this season,” De Zerbi told Sky Sports after the defeat.
In the other 14:00 BST kick-off, Newcastle United made the trip to the capital to take on Crystal Palace in a bid to rescue their European hopes.
The Eagles eased to a 3-0 win over Serie A side Fiorentina on Thursday night in the UEFA Conference League, but found themselves one goal down at the break against the Magpies.
William Osula struck his third goal for the season shortly before half-time in south London as he bundled the ball over the line after Maxence Lacroix failed to clear Tino Livramento’s cross.
Jean-Philippe Mateta proved to be the Palace super-sub as he followed up his goal against Fiorentina with a brace off the bench against Eddie Howe’s side.
Watch: Mateta’s goals v Newcastle
A 2-1 win saw Oliver Glasner’s team go level on points with Newcastle as they extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to six matches.