Manchester City ignited the Premier League title race with a second-half blitz that sealed a 3-0 win against Chelsea as they closed the gap on leaders Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s side produced a devastating spell immediately after half-time on Sunday, with Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi scoring in the space of six minutes at Stamford Bridge.
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Jeremy Doku wrapped up a statement victory to ensure City took advantage of Arsenal’s shock 2-1 home defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Second-placed City are now only six points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, setting up a seismic showdown against the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium on April 19.
Having beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final and thrashed Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals, City are hitting form at just the right time.
Their bid for a seventh English football title under Guardiola had appeared to be fading after successive draws with strugglers West Ham and Nottingham Forest in their previous two league matches.
A disjointed first half against Chelsea suggested City might waste a golden opportunity to pile pressure on 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, and will have a game in hand, possibly allowing Guardiola’s men to pip them to the trophy.
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 football matches, losing three in a row to leave the Blues boss facing some difficult questions.
Chelsea, who have not beaten City since the 2021 Champions League final, were again without Enzo Fernandez after Rosenior’s controversial decision to drop the Argentinian midfielder for hinting he might leave in the summer.
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 City 35 minutes to mount an incisive raid as Bernardo Silva stretched to meet O’Reilly’s cross, but Robert Sanchez made a fine save from the midfielder’s close-range effort.
But City stepped up after the interval and O’Reilly made the breakthrough in the 51st minute.
Rayan Cherki whipped an in-swinging cross towards O’Reilly, and the City left-back reprised his League Cup final heroics with another clinical header from close range.
Six minutes later, Cherki again showed the creative genius that has won over Guardiola despite some impetuous moments in his first season in Manchester.
The France playmaker glided past a gaggle of Chelsea players on the edge of the area before threading a sublime pass to Guehi, who looked more like a forward than a centre-back as he smashed a perfect strike into the far corner from 12 yards.
City benefitted from wretched Chelsea defending for their third goal in the 68th minute.
Sanchez rolled the ball to Moises Caicedo even though the Chelsea midfielder was surrounded by three City players and Doku pounced, racing into the area to drill home as Guardiola celebrated a priceless result.
Doku praised City’s “exceptional” win after the game.
“I watched the Arsenal game, and when I saw them lose [at Bournemouth on Saturday], I saw that the Premier League is really unpredictable,” he told Sky Sports.
“We were also focused on our own game. Winning here [at Stamford Bridge] is not a given, so that we did it today is exceptional.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, Tottenham’s survival fight took another blow after a 1-0 loss to Sunderland left them rooted in the relegation zone.
In coach Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge, Spurs fell to a 16th league loss of the season. Their 14-game winless run in the league dates back to January 1.
Nordi Mukiele’s deflected shot sealed the game at the Stadium of Light and plunged Tottenham’s campaign deeper into crisis.
Tottenham are two points adrift of safety with six games to go. Their plight was not helped by relegation-fighting Nottingham Forest drawing 1-1 with Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace came back from 1-0 down to beat Newcastle 2-1 at Selhurst Park.
