Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said on Wednesday that he was “sad” to see rival boss Ruben Amorim sacked by Manchester United as he reflected on the brutal nature of their trade.
Amorim was dismissed by the Premier League giants on Monday after just 14 months in charge.
The Portuguese coach’s exit followed growing tensions with senior Old Trafford officials, including director of football Jason Wilcox, over recent days.
United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe had previously suggested that Amorim would be given at least three years in charge, comparing his position with that of Arteta.
The Spaniard, appointed in 2019. endured a rocky start to his time in charge of Arsenal, but they now head into Thursday’s match at home to reigning champions Liverpool six points clear at the top of the Premier League table as they chase a first English title in over 20 years.
United, by contrast, are sixth — a huge 17 points adrift of the Gunners.
Amorim won just 25 of his 63 games at United in all competitions during the shortest reign for a permanent manager since David Moyes was sacked just eight months into his tenure in 2014.
“I can only talk about what I have experienced, and it’s always sad to see a colleague losing his job, obviously,” Arteta told reporters in a pre-match press conference.
“We know where we are, and I think you need support from the ownership, from your staff, from players.
“At the end of the day, you need to win a lot of football matches if you want to stay in the job, and that’s the reality and the nature of our job.” (Punch)
Arsenal fought back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday, stretching their lead at the top of the Premier League as Aston Villa extended their winning run at home.
A goal from Gabriel Magalhaes and two from the returning Declan Rice sent the Gunners six points clear of second-placed Villa and seven ahead of Manchester City.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the character of his team, singling out Rice and Gabriel, whose sloppy pass set up Bournemouth for the opening goal.
“I love the character of Gabriel, the way he overcome that situation — it’s just unbelievable, it says a lot about how much we’ve grown,” he told Sky Sports. “The team found a way to beat them and it’s a massive win.”
The Spaniard said that Rice had worked hard to be available after missing Tuesday’s 4-1 home win against Villa with a knee problem.
“He has stretched himself to the very limit and the team were awarded with two great goals,” he added.
Evanilson gave impressive Bournemouth an early lead, stroking home after Gabriel’s error but the Brazil defender made up for his mistake just minutes later, converting after Noni Madueke’s drive to the byline.
England midfielder Rice side-footed the Gunners ahead in the 54th minute from the edge of the area and gave them breathing space with about 20 minutes to go, producing a low finish from substitute Bukayo Saka’s cutback.
Junior Kroupi brought Bournemouth back into the game with a thunderous right-footed finish but Arsenal held on for a fifth straight Premier League win — keeping them firmly on course for a first English title since 2004.
Earlier, Unai Emery’s Villa bounced back from their chastening defeat at Arsenal to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1, recording their 11th consecutive home win in all competitions.
England forward Ollie Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead on the cusp of half-time with a powerful strike from just outside the area and John McGinn scored twice in the second half, either side of a Morgan Gibbs-White goal.
Villa boss Emery said his players and coaching staff had held a meeting after their drubbing at the Emirates Stadium.
“I am so happy,” he said. “We had to recover our energy and our confidence. Here, at Villa Park, the energy we create was really important.
“Forest are competitive. After the Arsenal match we met — the players and staff — (and discussed) how we are doing this season, how we are feeling, how we needed to keep the same consistency as before, how we needed to be together and strong.”
Sean Dyche’s Forest, who have now suffered four straight league defeats, remain one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who slumped to a damaging 3-0 loss at Molineux. (JapanToday)
Arsenal ensured it will end the year top of the Premier League after beating Aston Villa 4-1 at home in a powerful statement win on Tuesday with all goals scored in the second half.
The fourth goal, scored by substitute Gabriel Jesus one minute after coming on, highlighted the depth of Arsenal’s bench this season and coach Mikel Arteta jubilantly high-fived his assistants at the final whistle.
Victory moved Arsenal five points ahead of Manchester City, which plays at Sunderland on New Year’s Day, and six points clear of third-place Villa.
“It is a beautiful evening. That was a very tough match, as we knew it would be, because they are a top opponent to play against,” Arteta told broadcaster Sky Sports. “The way we started the second half was amazing, we really turned things up and were efficient in everything that we did.”
Arsenal has not won the Premier League since 2004 and the pressure is on Arteta to deliver.
“In 2026, we know what we want,” Arteta said.
Elsewhere, Chelsea drew 2-2 at home to Bournemouth; Newcastle won 3-1 at lowly Burnley; and Manchester United was held 1-1 at home to rock-bottom Wolverhampton.
Struggling West Ham drew 2-2 with visiting Brighton, and Everton won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest.
No Arsenal player is near the top of the scorers’ charts this season, yet sharing the goals around might just be the team’s strength.
Defender Gabriel Magalhães headed home early in the second half following a corner for set-piece specialist Arsenal, and midfielder Martín Zubimendi netted in the 52nd minute.
Winger Leandro Trossard curled in a fine third from the edge of the penalty area in the 69th and was involved in the fourth goal, curled into the same corner from almost the same spot in the 78th minute by Jesus after Arsenal had launched a superb counterattack from deep.
The win was even more impressive considering Arsenal was missing key midfielder Declan Rice with a knee injury and Villa was playing on the back of 11 straight victories in all competitions.
Gabriel nodded in from close range and was deemed not to have impeded Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez with his elbow.
Zubimendi finished confidently after captain Martin Ødegaard expertly won the ball in midfield and advanced before threading a perfect ball behind Villa’s defense. (JapanToday)
Arsenal resisted a late fightback from Brighton on Saturday to keep hold of first place in the Premier League, but Manchester City and Aston Villa are in hot pursuit.
It is a three-way fight at the top with just three points separating first and third in the standings.
City briefly held top spot after a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest, but when Arsenal beat Brighton by the same score later in the day, it returned to the summit with a two-point advantage over Pep Guardiola’s team.
Villa is just a point further back in third after extending its remarkable winning run to 11 games in all competitions with a comeback 2-1 victory at Chelsea.
Villa plays Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday and a win would see it move level on points with the leader at the turn of the year.
Liverpool is up to fourth after its resurgence continued with a 2-1 win of its own against last-place Wolverhampton, which set a new Premier League record for the longest winless run from the start of a season.
Another own goal kept Arsenal at the top of the standings — but it required an outstanding save from David Raya to deny Brighton.
Martin Odegaard gave Mikel Arteta’s team a 14th-minute lead — and when Brighton’s Georginio Rutter headed a wicked Declan Rice corner into his own net seven minutes into the second half, Arsenal was in control.
But nerves began to spread around the Emirates when Diego Gomez pulled a goal back against the run of play in the 64th. Yankuba Minteh then hit a shot that was destined for the top corner until Raya stretched an arm to push it away.
“Their goal changed the momentum a little bit and they pressed us towards the end, but we got the three points and that’s all that matters,” Odegaard said. “Lots of positives and still some things we can improve, but overall a good game and another win.”
Arsenal has become a set piece specialist, but in recent weeks it has benefited from a slew of own goals, with Rutter’s the latest to prove decisive.
It was the fourth time in as many games an opponent has scored an own goal against the league’s frontrunner.
Rayan Cherki kept Manchester City’s title challenge powering on with a late winner at Forest.
The France forward’s 83rd minute strike secured victory at the City Ground to make it six league wins in a row for Guardiola’s team. City is on an eight-game winning run in all.
“Today is a big win,” Cherki told TNT Sports. “I’m proud of the team because this game is very complicated to win.”
It was Cherki’s second goal in three games and fifth overall. He also provided an assist with an intricate pass to Tijjani Reijnders to put City ahead three minutes into the second half.
Omari Hutchinson equalized for relegation-fighting Forest, which was holding out for a crucial point until Cherki fired through a crowded box for the winner.
Guardiola, who has won 12 league titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, looks like a man who believes his team is ready to regain the crown it surrendered to Liverpool last season. He joined in the celebrations with the traveling fans after the final whistle — acting conductor as they celebrated wildly after another win.
“When we won a lot of titles in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, here, you have a lot of games of this type,” he said. “The body language, how we celebrated, the connection with the fans is there.”
Super sub Ollie Watkins came off the bench and extended Villa’s winning run.
With Unai Emery’s team trailing 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to Joao Pedro’s first-half strike, Watkins was sent on to try to salvage something.
And the England striker delivered in emphatic fashion, leveling the game within five minutes of coming on and then heading in the winner in the 84th to stun the home crowd and spark frenzied celebrations among Villa’s traveling supporters.
That’s 12 wins in Villa’s last 13 league games to firmly establish itself as a genuine title contender with Arsenal up next.
“Amazing is the word to sum it up,” Watkins told Sky Sports.
A fourth straight win for Liverpool and another sign that Florian Wirtz is finding his feet in England’s top flight.
Wirtz scored his first Premier League goal since joining the defending champion from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and it proved to be decisive against Wolves.
Wirtz doubled Liverpool’s lead before halftime after Ryan Gravenberch had opened the scoring at Anfield, but Wolves halved the deficit through Santiago Bueno after the break.
Arsenal advanced to the Carabao Cup semifinals after a dramatic quarter‑final clash with Crystal Palace in the London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.
The match finished 1‑1 in normal time before heading to a penalty shootout, where Arsenal prevailed 8‑7 to secure their place in the last four of the competition.
Maxence Lacroix headlined the game scoring an own goal in the 79th minute.
He went on to lose the 16th penalty which the Spaniard, Kepa Arrizabalaga saved to give Arsenal the push.
Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi scored a late equaliser in stoppage time to force the shootout after Arsenal had taken the lead earlier in the contest.
The tie was also marked by a serious injury for Palace defender Chris Richards, who was stretchered off with a bleeding foot in the second half, forcing an early reshuffle for the visitors.
Despite Palace’s grit and late goal, Arsenal held their nerve in the penalty shootout to book a semifinal showdown, keeping alive their bid for silverware in the EFL Cup.
The tie saw Maxence Lacroix inadvertently put Palace behind in the 79th minute when he “stabbed the ball into his own net” under pressure from William Saliba, following a pinpoint corner from Bukayo Saka.
The own goal appeared to secure the win for Arsenal in normal time.
Arsenal players celebrate after winning in a penalty shootout the English Football League Cup quarter-final soccer match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace in London, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
However, Palace refused to go quietly. Deep into stoppage time, Marc Guéhi “stole in at close range to tuck the ball past Arrizabalaga after Lerma had headed down a deep free-kick,” forcing a nerve-wracking shootout.
The penalty drama saw both sides trading successful spot-kicks until Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Lacroix’s effort to clinch victory.
Arsenal’s post-match report noted, “Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Maxence Lacroix’s penalty at the end of an epic shootout to send us through to the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.”
Arsenal dominated the early exchanges. Gabriel Jesus had a chance before the opener, while Noni Madueke, Martinelli, and Jurrien Timber were all heavily involved in creating opportunities.
The report highlighted Martinelli’s impact, saying, “Martinelli had created five chances in a fine first half, but ended it hobbling, after a clash of knees.”
After the interval, Palace grew into the game, forcing Kepa into several saves, including from Jefferson Lerma’s long throw. Mikel Arteta made tactical changes, introducing Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka, with Ødegaard delivering a cross that Jesus narrowly missed with a header.
The penalty shootout sequence was intense. Arsenal scorers included Ødegaard, Declan Rice, Saka, Trossard, Merino, Calafiori, Timber, and Saliba, before Kepa’s decisive save sealed the win.
The report summarised: “It was enough to send us through to the League Cup semi-final for the 18th time in our history.”
Arsenal will now face Chelsea over two legs in the semi-final, with the first leg at Stamford Bridge in the week beginning January 12 and the return at the Emirates on February 3 or 4.
Before that, Arsenal hosts Brighton & Hove Albion on December 27 and Aston Villa on December 30 in their final Premier League fixtures of 2025. (Punch)
Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to the top of the Premier League by beating West Ham 3-0, while Liverpool continued their upturn with a 2-1 win at nine-man Tottenham on Saturday.
Arsenal can retake top spot for Christmas when they visit Everton later, but City ramped up the pressure on the Gunners with a seventh consecutive win in all competitions.
The Hammers feared a rout when Haaland smashed home after just five minutes.
Haaland turned provider for City’s second just before half-time as Tijjani Reijnders scored his first goal at the Etihad.
And he netted his 38th goal of the season already for club and country when the ball broke his way 21 minutes from time to move City one point ahead of Arsenal.
Yet, Pep Guardiola was still far from satisfied as he demanded improvements if City are to win a seventh Premier League title under his tenure.
“I want to be honest. I said to the players, ‘Merry Christmas everyone but it will not be enough if we don’t improve’.”
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to six games after they survived a nervy finale to inflict a miserable Christmas on Spurs boss Thomas Frank.
Xavi Simons’ dangerous lunge on Dutch international team-mate Virgil van Dijk on 33 minutes left the home side with a mountain to climb.
Despite the absence of Mohamed Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations, Alexander Isak again started on the bench.
Arne Slot introduced the most expensive Premier League player of all time at the break.
The Swede netted just his third goal since joining Liverpool for £125 million in September but suffered another injury setback in the process and had to be replaced.
Hugo Ekitike headed in his fifth goal in three league games to double Liverpool’s lead.
But Slot’s men still wobbled in the closing stages once Richarlison pulled a goal back.
A fifth defeat in nine home league games this season intensified the pressure on Frank and the Dane was not helped by his captain Cristian Romero, who got himself needlessly sent off in stoppage time.
Liverpool climb up to fifth, while Spurs are rooted down in 13th.
Chelsea remain above the Reds in fourth on goal difference as a second-half fightback rescued manager Enzo Maresca from more speculation over his future.
The Italian claimed after last weekend’s win over Everton that he and his players had not received enough support during a difficult run of results.
Maresca was then linked with being Guardiola’s successor at City in recent days.
Chelsea have won just once in their last five league games to see ambitions of a title challenge wilt.
But it could have been even worse for Maresca as Nick Woltemade’s double put Newcastle 2-0 up in a dominant first half from the Magpies.
A brilliant Reece James free-kick brought the Blues back into the game before Joao Pedro pounced on an error from Malick Thiaw to equalise.
Newcastle felt aggrieved as two late appeals for penalties and for James to be sent off were dismissed to leave Eddie Howe’s men languishing in 11th.
Wolves remain without a league win this season and on course to enter the record books as the worst side in Premier League history.
Keane Lewis-Potter scored both goals as Brentford won 2-0 at Molineux to move 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Burnley ended their seven-game losing streak as Armando Broja’s 90th-minute goal snatched a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.
Sunderland edged up to sixth after a 0-0 draw at Brighton. (JapanToday)
Manchester City and Aston Villa kept the pressure on Premier League leader Arsenal with wins on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest pulled further away from the relegation zone with a 3-0 victory against Tottenham and Sunderland beat Newcastle 1-0 in the Tyne-Wear derby after an own-goal from Nick Woltemade.
Arsenal had extended its lead at the top of the standings to five points with a 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday. But a day later its closest rivals both responded with victories – second-place City winning 3-0 at Crystal Palace and Villa, in third, twice coming back to beat West Ham 3-2 at the London Stadium.
City is two points behind Arsenal and Villa is a point further back.
Beaten by Palace in the FA Cup final last season, City exacted some revenge to take all three points at Selhurst Park.
“They are so strong. Every time we play against them it’s so difficult,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “Still, we are not top, but we are learning and after what happened we will be closer in the future.”
Erling Haaland scored his 101st Premier League goal to put City in front late in the first half and he got his second of the match with an 89th-minute penalty. The Norwegian has 36 goals in 27 appearances for club and country in another remarkable scoring season. He is the league’s leading scorer with 17 goals.
Phil Foden got City’s other goal in between Haaland’s double.
Morgan Rogers scored twice in the second half to extend Aston Villa’s winning run to nine-straight games in all competitions and keep Unai Emery’s team on the heels of Arsenal and City.
Villa has lost just one of its last 13 games in the league and won 10 of its last 11, but twice had to come from behind at relegation fighting West Ham.
“We feel unstoppable, but we are making it difficult for ourselves,” Rogers said. “The battle and resilience we have means we know we can get back into it against a good team.
“We want to keep this going, it’s about being confident and I’m feeling good.”
Mateus Fernandes scored the fastest goal in England’s top flight this season when putting the home team 1-0 up after just 29 seconds. But Konstantinos Mavropanos’ own-goal leveled the game eight minutes later.
Jarrod Bowen then gave West Ham the lead at halftime with his second goal in as many games in the 24th.
Rogers leveled the game again five minutes after the break and struck the winner in the 79th.
The pressure is mounting on Tottenham coach Thomas Frank, who was left infuriated after a latest loss.
Spurs have won just one of their last seven games in the league and face defending champion Liverpool at home next week. (JapanToday)
Erling Haaland scored his 34th goal for club and country this season to give Manchester City a 2-1 win at Real Madrid on Wednesday as Arsenal maintained their perfect group stage record with a 3-0 victory at Club Brugge .
It was a second successive home defeat for Real following their 2-0 reverse against Celta Vigo at the weekend and heaped more pressure on coach Xabi Alonso, whose side have won just two of their last eight in all competitions.
For Haaland, though, this was a 21st goal in 21 City games this season and a 51st in 50 Champions League starts, while Nico O’Reilly scored his first goal in the competition.
Rodrygo gave Real, who were missing Kylian Mbappe, the lead just before the half-hour mark with a crisp shot across Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner.
But academy product O’Reilly equalised just seven minutes later, reacting quickest to prod home the loose ball from inside the six-yard box after Thibaut Courtois had saved Josko Gvardiol’s header.
And Haaland was able to fire City in front from the penalty spot on 43 minutes after VAR intervened to punish Antonio Rudiger for wrestling the Norwegian forward to the ground to prevent him reaching a cross.
It could have been worse for Real but Courtois redeemed himself somewhat for flapping at Gvardiol’s header with a crucial double save to deny Haaland and Rayan Cherki in quick succession as the half drew to a close.
It was a breathless end-to-end second half and Jude Bellingham could have done better than chip over the bar with only Donnarumma to beat, while Courtois made a fingertip save to deny Jeremy Doku.
Vinicius Jr. had a late chance to equalise but skied his volley after Donnarumma had come for and missed an inswinging corner.
Substitute Endrick also clipped the top of the bar with a header as Real pushed for a late equaliser.
Noni Madueke’s double helped Arsenal win a sixth straight Champions League match this season and close in on the last 16.
The Premier League leaders already have more points (18) than was needed last season to secure a top eight spot and direct qualification for the last 16, and they have two matches still to come.
Madueke’s two goals could not have been more different.
The first was a wonder goal in which he beat two players and thrashed in a long-range strike.
For the second he was teed up by Martin Zubimendi for a simple finish.
Brugge had put the Gunners under fierce first-half pressure but they crumbled after the second goal as Gabriel Martinelli added to their misery, bending the ball around the goalkeeper from outside the box.
Elsewhere, reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao but stayed third, behind only Arsenal and Bayern Munich, with City fourth.
Weston McKennie and Jonathan David scored the goals as Juventus overcame Pafos 2-0, while Bayer Leverkusen and Newcastle shared a 2-2 draw, as did Borussia Dortmund and Bodo/Glimt.
Goals from Richard Rios and Leandro Barreiro gave Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s Napoli in a battle of the former Chelsea bosses.
Oscar Gloukh scored a brace as Ajax hit three late goals to claim a 4-2 win at Qarabag to finally open their account in the competition this season.
Victory took them off the bottom of the table and kept alive their slim hopes of making the play-offs, while Villarreal slumped to last position after a 3-2 home defeat to FC Copenhagen. (JapanToday)
Enzo Maresca said he had no choice but to rotate his Chelsea squad when questioned Friday over his team’s damaging 3-1 defeat at Leeds in midweek.
The loss at Elland Road on Wednesday left the Blues in fourth place, nine points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.
“We did many things bad,” Chelsea boss Maresca said. “Probably we also paid the bill for playing one hour with 10 players against Arsenal.”
The Italian, who has previously been criticised over his rotation policy, made five changes for the game at Leeds.
Wesley Fofana was not included in the squad and Moises Caicedo was suspended while Malo Gusto, captain Reece James and winger Pedro Neto were named as substitutes.
But Maresca said his hand was forced.
“Most of the rotation we do is because the other one they cannot play,” he said. “So we have players in this moment not able to play every three days.
“And the reason why we have done most of the rotation in the past is for this reason.
“It’s always the same thing — when you pick 11 players and you win it’s fine. When you pick 11 players and you don’t win, it’s always the reason why.
“For sure, playing with 10 players for one hour (in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal) then going to Leeds is not the best situation for us.”
Maresca was asked ahead of Chelsea’s game at Bournemouth on Saturday whether his young side needed an injection of experience.
“We always talk about experience when we drop points but when we beat Barcelona and drew against Arsenal, no one was mentioning about experienced players,” he said.
He added: “I know that we are always looking for experience but it was a bad game (at Leeds) for all of us.” (Guardian)
The Premier League title race was blown open after Aston Villa struck in stoppage time to beat Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday.
Emiliano Buendia scored at the death in a thrilling finish at Villa Park that stunned first-placed Arsenal.
The Gunners’ lead was cut to just two points after second-placed Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-0.
Villa was a point further back in third.
Liverpool’s troubled title defense stumbled again when it dropped more points at Leeds. Arne Slot’s team blew a two-goal lead and conceded in the sixth minute of added time at Elland Road in a 3-3 draw.
Chelsea dropped points for the third game in a row in a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth.
Buendia’s winner came in the fifth minute of added time. The substitute kept a cool head during a goalmouth scramble, lifting a shot through the crowded box.
“In the manner that happened at the end, (it is) really difficult to take,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told TNT Sports.
It was the third consecutive time Arsenal dropped points away from home after draws with Sunderland and Chelsea. Those results have opened the door to rivals such as City and Villa.
Villa’s ninth win from its last 10 games followed a dire start to the campaign when Unai Emery’s team was winless after its first five.
“At the minute we’re on a great run,” said Matty Cash, who put Villa ahead in the 36th. “We know it’s not even Christmas yet so we have to keep being demanding, keep being consistent, and then we’ll see where it takes us.”
Leandro Trossard was a halftime substitute for Arsenal and he made a quick impact by leveling the game seven minutes later.
Buendia went on in the 87th and proved an inspired substitution.
“We fight until the last minute, the last second, it was a really incredible win,” he said.
Arsenal’s second loss of the season was its first since August at Liverpool.
“We are 18 games unbeaten, and yet still the margin is so small,” Arteta said. “The effort was absolutely there and (we must) use that pain to go again.”
Deep into stoppage time at Leeds, Liverpool was set to move into the top five.
That was until Ao Tanaka arrived at the far post from a corner to deny Slot’s team a much-needed win.
“The only ones to blame is us because we do concede these chances,” Slot told Sky Sports.
Liverpool was poised for just a third league win in 10 games when Hugo Ekitike scored twice in two minutes shortly after halftime. But Leeds responded with its own quickfire double when Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted from the penalty spot and Anton Stach leveled two minutes later.
Dominik Szoboszlai put the visitors in front again in the 80th but when the fourth official indicated nine minutes of added time the home crowd sensed another comeback and Tanaka delivered.
Mohamed Salah was on the bench for a third straight game and the Liverpool icon was an unused substitute. “We have to accept the situation we are in and I make my choices based on that,” Slot said.
Man City will be a familiar sight in Arsenal’s rearview mirror.
In back-to-back campaigns in 2023 and 2024 Arteta watched City chase his team down to win the titles. And it is shaping up to be another fight between them.
Even after four losses in the league, City is just two points behind Arsenal after victory against Sunderland.
“We had the feeling that Arsenal are going to drop few points and if you want to be there you have to win games and that comes from the way you perform — not just a lucky day or lucky action,” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Ruben Dias, with a brilliant long-range goal, and Josko Gvardiol gave City a 2-0 lead at the break at Etihad Stadium and Phil Foden headed in a third in the second half.
Fourth-placed Chelsea has seen its title challenge stall over the past week after a run of just two points from a possible nine.
Not even the return of Cole Palmer to the starting lineup for the first time since September could inspire the Club World Cup champion at Bournemouth.
To add to a frustrating day, Liam Delap went off in the first half with a shoulder injury.
Bruno Guimaraes scored directly from a corner in Newcastle’s 2-1 win against Burnley.
The midfielder’s wicked cross curled beyond Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka at St James’ Park. Anthony Gordon added a second from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time.
What should have been a comfortable win for Newcastle became nervy after Zian Flemming pulled a goal back with a stoppage time penalty and Burnley threatened an equalizer.
Tottenham got a long-awaited home win in the league after beating Brentford 2-0.
Spurs’ last win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the opening game of the season against newly promoted Burnley. That was followed by six straight winless games in front of its own fans. But that streak was broken by first half goals from Richarlison and Xavi Simons against coach Thomas Frank’s former team.
Everton moved up to fifth after downing Nottingham Forest 3-0. (JapanToday)
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