Man City close in on Arsenal in EPL title race

LONDON, England (AP):

Manchester City issued a huge statement of intent in the race for the English Premier League (EPL) title with a 3-0 win at Chelsea yesterday.

Pep Guardiola’s team moved to within six points of leaders Arsenal ahead of next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash between the two teams. City also have a game in hand.

Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku all scored in a blistering second-half performance at Stamford Bridge, as City took full advantage of Arsenal’s shock defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.

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 wasn’t helped by relegation-fighting Nottingham Forest drawing 1-1 with Aston Villa.

Crystal Palace came back from 1-0 down to beat Newcastle 2-1 at Selhurst Park.

CITY’S TITLE CHARGE GATHERS PACE

While Arsenal’s form has hit a slump at the worst possible time, City made it three statement wins in a row after rolling over Chelsea.

Victory followed triumph against Arsenal in the English League Cup final and the 4-0 rout of Liverpool in the FA Cup last week.

While those three results all came in different competitions, City’s charge has an ominous feel about it after twice chasing down Arsenal’s lead to win the title in 2023 and 2024.

Second-placed City have the chance to cut the gap at the top to three points with victory against Arsenal at the Etihad. Guardiola called for respect for Arsenal when looking ahead to that title showdown.

“They have been the best team in this country, in Europe, so far. Beating Arsenal once is so difficult, imagine beating them twice in a few weeks,” Guardiola said. “I would like to say to my fans — respect Arsenal a lot, they are an extraordinary team. Come to join us from minute one because the players will do the maximum.”

Rayan Cherki was the inspiration at Stamford Bridge — setting up goals for O’Reilly six minutes after half-time and Guehi in the 57th.

Doku rounded off the win in the 68th.

The result didn’t help Chelsea’s bid to qualify for the Champions League, leaving them four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool.

Liam Rosenior’s team has won just one of its last seven league games.

SPURS’ CRISIS DEEPENS

The numbers just keep on getting worse for Tottenham.

Now on their third coach of the season, it’s more than three months since their last league win and just one point from a possible 24. This was a seventh defeat in eight games.

If the hope was that De Zerbi would provide an immediate bounce in form after replacing Igor Tudor, it didn’t come in a typically toothless display at Sunderland.

While the new coach could point to bad luck, given the nature of Mukiele’s 61st-minute winner, which took a wicked deflection off Micky van de Ven, his team rarely looked like finding a way back into the match — even during 11 minutes of added time at the end.

An injury to Cristian Romero made a bad day worse for Spurs, who next face Brighton, one of De Zerbi’s former clubs.

Forest moved three points clear of Spurs after a draw at the City Ground. Neco Williams’ long-range shot levelled the game after a Murillo own-goal gave Villa the lead.

MATETA DOUBLE FOR PALACE

Jean-Philippe Mateta saw a January move to AC Milan fall through on deadline day and is now having a big say in Palace’s bid to end the season on a high.

The France forward scored in Thursday’s Conference League win against Fiorentina and hit a double as Palace came back against Newcastle.

Two late goals turned the game at Selhurst Park after William Osula had given Newcastle a half-time lead.

Mateta levelled in the 80th and then fired a winner from the penalty spot in the fourth minute of added time.

Palace leapfrogged Newcastle on goal difference to move up to 13th.