Manchester City dismantled Chelsea after a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, sending a statement to Premier League leaders Arsenal as they closed the gap to 6 points on Sunday.
City woke up from a first-half slumber to score three times in 17 minutes with Nico O’Reilly starting the rout, shrugging off Andrey Santos to head home from a Rayan Cherki cross in the 51st minute.
Cherki was on hand six minutes later to cross for former Chelsea defender Marc Guehi to finish in the bottom corner.
City looked like the champions of old as they blew Chelsea away and Jeremy Doku made it 3-0 after robbing Moises Caicedo of the ball and firing into the net.
Arsenal’s shock 2-1 defeat at home by Bournemouth on Saturday opened the door for title-chasing City and they took full advantage with second-half goals by O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku sealing the points.
City cut Arsenal’s lead to six points and with a game in hand and next Sunday’s home clash against Mikel Arteta’s long-time leaders to come, the title race is boiling up again.
“I would like to say to my fans — respect Arsenal a lot, they are an extraordinary team,” Guardiola said of next week’s potential title decider. “Come to join us from minute one because the players will do the maximum.”
While City moved to 64 points from 31 games to Arsenal’s 70 from 32, Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the top five and qualifying for the Champions League are fading.
A fourth defeat in five league games for Liam Rosenior’s side left them in sixth place, four points behind Liverpool.
Sunday’s Premier League results
Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa
Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City.
