Manchester City ramps up pressure on Arsenal at the top after dominant victory against Chelsea

The away side pressed hard at the start, yet Chelsea soon took control and posed the bigger danger.

A quick Chelsea attack ended with Cole Palmer striking his effort against the outside of the net, and Joao Pedro had a shot deflected away by Abdukodir Khusanov prior to Marc Cucurella netting a goal disallowed for offside.

Pedro Neto then twisted inwards and evaded Rodri, only for his shot to be parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Robert Sanchez faced no shots until the 34th minute, but he reacted superbly to deny Bernardo Silva from Nico OReillys pullback.

OReilly set up another chance as Rayan Cherki got the ball in an open spot near the penalty area, though he shot weakly towards Sanchez.

Antoine Semenyo cut inside and pulled his effort just wide of the upright, while Andrey Santos nodded over at the opposite end with the last action of the opening period.

Manchester City emerged strongly after the interval, and with Erling Haaland already denied by Jorrel Hato, they led inside six minutes as OReilly shook off Santos to nod in Cherkis delivery.

Merely six minutes on, Cherki reached 10 Premier League assists this term by gliding along the edge of the Chelsea area and picking out Marc Guehi with a sharp pass, met by a clinical strike from the defender.

OReilly, who had sparked the scoring, then limped off injured, yet the goals kept flowing four minutes later. Jeremy Doku linked with Cherki to rob Moises Caicedo and slot home, prompting cries of Are you watching Arsenal?

Khusanov failed to hit the mark with a potential stunner, but Chelsea showed no fightback signs as Donnarumma held Cucurellas header.

The triumph ended Citys streak of two straight Premier League stalemates, allowing them to exploit Arsenals loss to Bournemouth, leaving them six points adrift of the leaders with a fixture in reserve and a clash against the Gunners next week.

This outcome also marked Chelseas third league loss in a row for the first time since May 2023, positioning them four points off fifthplaced Liverpool.