Manchester City capitalised on Arsenal’s 2-1 loss at AFC Bournemouth. Pep Guardiola’s side then cruised past Chelsea 3–0 in a clinical second-half display. The win leaves City six points behind leaders Arsenal, but with a game in hand; the two rivals meet at the Etihad next weekend. Chelsea, meanwhile, slumped to a third successive Premier League defeat and remain sixth.
The first half offered little excitement as both sides played cautiously and avoided risks, with Chelsea’s defence sitting deep.
Man City struggled to carve out clear-cut chances, although Rayan Cherki should have done better from the edge of the box, shooting straight into the hands of Robert Sánchez.
City started the second half brightly, with Erling Braut Haaland being denied by a fine block from Jorrel Hato and Rayan Cherki’s follow-up effort deflected narrowly wide.
City’s next chance proved decisive: Cherki delivered a delicate cross that Nico O’Reilly nodded past the helpless Sánchez, 0-1.
Five minutes later, Cherki delivered a clever through ball for Marc Guéhi to finish clinically into the far corner for 0-2.
Jérémy Doku then punished a Moisés Caicedo error, stealing the ball and calmly finishing for 0-3.
The contest was effectively over, and the only remaining question was the final scoreline. Both sides created chances in the closing stages, yet the 0-3 margin held firm.
Tijjani Reijnders and Nathan Aké did not play a single minute for City. Meanwhile, Hato impressed at the heart of the defence and completed the full 90 minutes.