Man City closes in on Arsenal with 3-0 win over Chelsea

By  JAMES ROBSONMonday April 13, 2026

Manchester City delivered a forceful message in the Premier League title race on Sunday, sweeping past Chelsea 3-0 to tighten the pressure on Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola’s side climbed to within six points of the leaders before next weekend’s top-of-the-table meeting between the two clubs, and City still have a game in hand.

Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku struck in a dominant second-half display at Stamford Bridge, with City capitalizing fully on Arsenal’s surprise loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.

“We know that we still have everything in our hands,” Doku said.

Tottenham’s battle to stay up suffered another setback after a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland kept it stranded in the relegation zone.

In coach Roberto De Zerbi’s first match in charge, Spurs slumped to a 16th league loss of the campaign. Their winless run in the league now stretches back to Jan. 1 and has reached 14 games.

Nordi Mukiele’s deflected effort decided the contest at the Stadium of Light and dragged Tottenham deeper into trouble.

With six matches left, Tottenham sits two points from safety. Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa did little to ease the pressure on a side already fighting for its life.

Crystal Palace also produced a spirited fightback, overturning a 1-0 deficit to defeat Newcastle 2-1 at Selhurst Park.

City’s title charge gathers pace

Arsenal’s form has dipped at exactly the wrong time, and City made it three eye-catching results in succession with the rout of Chelsea.

The win came on the heels of victory over Arsenal in the English League Cup final and last week’s 4-0 demolition of Liverpool in the FA Cup.

Those victories arrived in different competitions, but together they have given City’s pursuit a distinctly ominous look, especially after Guardiola’s team twice chased down Arsenal to win the title in 2023 and 2024.

Second-place City now have the opportunity to trim the deficit at the summit to three points if they beat Arsenal at the Etihad. Guardiola, though, urged his supporters to show Arsenal proper respect ahead of that decisive meeting.

“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 architect of the victory at Stamford Bridge, setting up O’Reilly’s goal six minutes after the restart and then assisting Guehi in the 57th minute.

Doku added the third in the 68th.

The defeat did Chelsea’s Champions League hopes no favors, leaving it four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool.

Liam Rosenior’s side has now won only one of its past seven league matches.

Spurs’ crisis deepens

For Tottenham, the numbers continue to make grim reading.

Now on its third coach of the season, the club is more than three months removed from its last league victory and has taken just one point from a possible 24. This was its seventh defeat in eight games.

If the expectation was that De Zerbi would spark an instant revival after taking over from Igor Tudor, there was no sign of it in a flat showing at Sunderland.

The new coach could at least point to misfortune, given the way Mukiele’s 61st-minute winner took a heavy deflection off Micky van de Ven, but Spurs rarely threatened a response — even after 11 minutes of stoppage time.

To make matters worse, Cristian Romero suffered an injury on a miserable afternoon for Tottenham, which next faces Brighton, one of De Zerbi’s former clubs.

Forest opened up a three-point cushion over Spurs after drawing at the City Ground. Neco Williams leveled the match with a long-range strike after a Murillo own-goal had given Villa the lead.

Mateta double for Palace

Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose proposed January switch to AC Milan collapsed on deadline day, is now playing a central role in Palace’s push to finish the season strongly.

The France forward scored in Thursday’s Conference League win over Fiorentina and then delivered a double as Palace came from behind against Newcastle.

Two late goals transformed the match at Selhurst Park after William Osula had put Newcastle ahead at halftime.

Mateta brought Palace level in the 80th minute and then converted from the penalty spot in the fourth minute of added time to snatch the win.

Palace moved above Newcastle on goal difference and climbed to 13th.