Manchester City are closing in on English Premier League log leaders Arsenal following their 3-1 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, reducing the gap at the top to just three points.
Pep Guardiola and his charges went into the game at the back of a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and were on a mission to capitalise after Mikel Arteta’s side dropped points once again after playing to 1-1 stalemate draw on Saturday.
City scored four minutes into the game through a Rodri header from a well-worked corner by Riyad Mahrez.
The Citizens continued to apply pressure when top goal scorer Erling Haaland turned from scorer to provider when he assisted midfielder Ilkay Gundogan to net their second goal in the 39th minute.
Moments before half-time, Jack Grealish haunt his former side when he was brought down inside the box by Jacob Ramsey. Algerian Mahrez stepped up and made no mistake to increase their lead to 3-0 heading into the break.
Newly appointed manager Unai Emery and his side came back fired up in the second-half, when Olie Watkins was set up by Brazilian Douglas Luiz to decrease the goal deficit to two.
Villa kept on knocking and came close to scoring their second when substitute Filipe Coutinho’s long range effort went over the bar.
Emery’s changes were proved effective when another substitute Jhon Duran was close to scoring when his shot was denied by the post in additional time.
The victory means that City are forever edging closer to the Gunners and will claim number-one spot on a better goal difference if they beat them when they meet at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
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