MANCHESTER, England – Manchester City thrashed Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday but remain eight points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League after Gabriel Jesus scored twice in the Gunners 4-1 win over Leeds.
In the clash between the two sides that have dominated English football over the past five years, City were a class apart despite the absence of Erling Haaland due to injury.
Liverpool went in front through Mohamed Salah’s 23rd goal of the season but were blown away in the second half after Julian Alvarez brought City level before the break.
Pep Guardiola’s men needed less than a minute in the second period to go in front as Kevin De Bruyne tapped home Riyad Mahrez’s cross.
Ilkay Gundogan slammed home the third before Jack Grealish rounded off his best performance in a City shirt with a fine finish for the fourth.
“Now it’s the Jack we thought (we were buying). Aston Villa fans know this Jack,” said Guardiola of Grealish, who joined for a Premier League record £100 million (S$160 million) in 2021 from the Birmingham club.
City still have a game in hand on Arsenal and the two meet in a potential title decider at the Etihad later this month.
A sobering defeat is another blow to Liverpool’s hopes of a top-four finish as the Reds slip to eighth in the table.
‘Deserved chance’
Arsenal did not feel the pressure of City briefly cutting the gap before kick-off at the Emirates as Jesus marked his first league start since November with a double.
Bukayo Saka was handed a rare rest by Mikel Arteta and Jesus took responsibility from the penalty spot in his absence to open the scoring 10 minutes before half-time.
Jesus was sidelined for three months after picking up a knee injury at the World Cup but the former City forward’s return for the run-in could deny his old club a fifth title in six years.
The Brazilian fired home his second goal of the game after Ben White doubled Arsenal’s lead early in the second half.
“He’s been working so hard the last four or five months with a lot of support obviously from the team and the staff,” said Arteta on Jesus’ impact.
“Today, he deserved the chance to start and he grabbed the opportunity with a lot of conviction and scoring two very important goals.”
Rasmus Kristensen pulled a goal back for Leeds, but Granit Xhaka rounded off the scoring as Arsenal made it seven consecutive league wins for the first time under Arteta.
