Manchester City Crush Crystal Palace with Title Statement as Aston Villa Keep Up Hot Streak

Manchester City delivered a convincing 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, closing the gap to just two points behind Premier League frontrunners Arsenal, while Aston Villa mounted comebacks twice to defeat West Ham.

In other action, Nottingham Forest routed Tottenham 3-0, and Sunderland edged out their local foes Newcastle 1-0 via an own goal by Nick Woltemade.

Arsenal, leading this season's Premier League charge, narrowly prevailed 2-1 against basement dwellers Wolves on Saturday, courtesy of a pair of own goals.

This result ramped up the stakes for City, who have displayed strong indications of regaining momentum in the past few weeks.

Pep Guardiola's squad faced a challenging outing at Selhurst Park against in-form Crystal Palace, where Oliver Glasner's team posed the greater threat during the opening 45 minutes.

However, Palace squandered their opportunities, including Yeremy Pino striking the bar with only goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma left to challenge.

Erling Haaland, mostly quiet up to that point, notched his 101st Premier League strike by nodding in a precise Matheus Nunes delivery across Dean Henderson and into the goal just before half-time.

Palace began the second half with vigour but failed to convert, ultimately suffering when Phil Foden slotted in from range after a pass from Rayan Cherki.

This marked Foden's sixth goal across four Premier League outings, observed by England boss Thomas Tuchel at Selhurst Park.

City sealed the points late on as Haaland blasted a penalty beyond Henderson after Savinho was felled by the keeper following a powerful central dash.

Villa Demonstrate Resilience

Villa entered their London Stadium clash as the Premier League's hottest team, boasting nine triumphs in their last 10 league fixtures.

Yet they trailed after merely 29 seconds when Mateus Fernandes dispossessed Ezri Konsa and unleashed a shot into the net.

Unai Emery's side equalised soon after as John McGinn's delivery was nodded into his own goal by Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Jarrod Bowen restored West Ham's lead around the midpoint of the second half, but Villa levelled once more early in that period via Morgan Rogers.

Rogers propelled Villa ahead for the first time in the 79th minute, rifling a curling effort from beyond the area to clinch a 3-2 success.

The result positions Emery's squad a single point adrift of City and five ahead of Chelsea in fourth.

Tottenham, seeking a vital win after only one success in six prior league games, visited Nottingham.

Instead, Callum Hudson-Odoi netted a brace, with Ibrahim Sangare adding a stunning third, heightening scrutiny on manager Thomas Frank in his debut campaign at the helm.

Sunderland hosted Newcastle in the Premier League for the first time in almost a decade, having languished outside the top tier for years.

Their score arrived unexpectedly as Newcastle's Woltemade diverted Nordi Mukiele's cross beyond his own keeper early in the second half.

This triumph boosted Sunderland to seventh place in the standings.

Brentford welcome Leeds in the evening fixture.