Man City beat Chelsea to turn up heat on Arsenal

Manchester City took full advantage of leaders Arsenal’s slip-up with a statement victory at Chelsea to ignite an enthralling Premier League title race.

Second-placed City scored three times in the second half at Stamford Bridge to cut Arsenal’s lead to six points – with a game in hand – after the Gunners’ shock home defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola’s City had been sloppy during the first half, with the brilliant Rayan Cherki striking a first-time effort from the edge of the box straight at Robert Sanchez and Antoine Semenyo’s shot from a similar position deflecting wide.

But the visitors started the second period with more purpose and broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when Cherki stood up a teasing cross which Nico O’Reilly powerfully headed in.

Frenchman Cherki was the provider again just six minutes later, feeding a pass through to former Chelsea player Marc Guehi, who caressed a low finish into the far corner to spark wild celebrations in front of the away end.

Chelsea were falling apart as Moises Caicedo was caught on the ball deep in his own half, allowing Jeremy Doku to break forward and finish with aplomb to seal the three points.

Earlier in the game, Marc Cucurella saw a cool finish ruled out for offside and Pedro Neto’s low shot was batted out by Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Liam Rosenior’s side fell to a third straight league loss.

City host Arsenal at Etihad Stadium next Sunday (16:30 BST kick-off) in a huge game at the top of the table.