Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City: Cherki opens up packed-in Blues and the Premier League title race

The title race is red hot after Manchester City pasted Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, moving six points back of leaders Arsenal with a match-in-hand.

Rayan Cherki set up second-half goals for Nico O'Reilly and Marc Guehi before Jeremy Doku finished off the scoring in what became a blowout in London.

WATCH — Chelsea v Manchester City full match replay

City's 64 points are six behind Arsenal, but Pep Guardiola's men have a match-in-hand and a full week to prepare for the Gunners' visit to the Etihad Stadium while their title rivals will have to play the second leg of an up-for-grabs Champions League second leg.

There was some bad news for Man City as O'Reilly limped off with an injury early in the second half.

More to come...

Chelsea vs Manchester City final score: 0-3

Nico O'Reilly 51', Marc Guehi 57', Jeremy Doku 68'

Chelsea vs Manchester City live updates — by Nick Mendola

City subs

Cherki and Doku exit for Savinho and Phil Foden in the 76th minute.

Jeremy Doku goal — Chelsea 0-3 Man City

Sanchez rolls it centrally to Moises Caicedo, who loses it under pressure from Doku.

The Belgian is into the box unimpeded and beats the Chelsea keeper.

Subs

Man City remove a dinged-up O'Reilly for Rayan Ait-Nouri.

A few minutes later, Chelsea remove Estevao and Andrey Santos for Alejandro Garnacho and Romeo Lavia.

Marc Guehi goal — Chelsea 0-2 Man City

Short corner routine from Cherki to Doku, and the ball goes back to Cherki.

He dribbles across the 18, skipping past two defenders before cutting an incredible pass to Guehi.

The center back has work to do and finishes like a striker to make it 2-0 a few minutes before the hour mark.

Nico O’Reilly goal — Chelsea 0-1 Man City

It was coming... Cherki's cross from the right is met by O'Reilly's header as the scorer bulls around marker Andrey Santos.

City threaten twice to start second half

Haaland gets into the box for a Doku pass and slapped a shot that was blocked by a sliding Jorell Hato.

Moments later Palmer blocks Doku in the box in what's a genuine penalty shout. Doku slips after contact and maybe that helped confirm the call.

Halftime — Chelsea 0-0 Manchester City

City with the ball (67%) and giving up less and less on the counter.

It seems likely the second half will follow the same program. Will Guardiola change his attackers?

Semenyo wakes up

He had been poor through 44 minutes but now Antoine Semenyo winds his way across the top of the box and wins a corner with a deflected strike.

Half-chance

This time it's City on Chelsea's left as O'Reilly dispossesses Estevao and releases Cherki, who can only chop a left-footed strike into the gut of Sanchez.

0-0, 39'.

Poor passing costing City

The decisions from City are decent but the accuracy of their passes is too often missing from the equation.

The latest giveaway leads to a Joao Pedro flick wide of Donnarumma's goal in the 29th minute.

Chelsea now bunkered in

This game is now looking like a counter-attacking-only plan from Chelsea.

Yes, the tension is here but we could surely use a goal for entertainment's sake.

Chelsea picking on City’s right side

Matheus Nunes and Khusanov are under duress as Pedro Neto and Cucurella clearly see a match they like on Man City's right side.

The Blues win a corner off a decent save from Gianluigi Donnarumma on Neto.

City corner after Chelsea offside goal

Another wayward pass leads to a Marc Cucurella goal but there's an offside.

City go the other way with some urgency and win a corner but Chelsea so far have had the right plan and commitment in their won third.

0-0, 18'.

Good start for Chelsea

No Enzo, no problem so far for the Blues.

Man City not helping with some wayward passes but it's scoreless in the 13th minute at Stamford Bridge.

Cole Palmer messes up counter attack

It's all City to start but ex-City man Cole Palmer has the ball in the middle of the park leading a 3v2 drill.

He sucks in two defenders but releases Pedro Neto with a too-strong wayward pass.

Neto rescues it and Palmer gets the ball again but lashes wildly into the side netting.

Chelsea lineup

Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Hato, Cucurella, Caicedo, Santos, Estevao, Palmer, Neto, Pedro

Manchester City lineup

Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly, Rodri, Silva, Semenyo, Cherki, Doku, Haaland

Chelsea vs Manchester City preview — by Joe Prince-Wright

Chelsea are struggling along under Liam Rosenior and they've had big problems on and off the pitch. On the pitch they have been dumped out of the Champions League by PSG and lost 3-0 at Everton in the Premier League before the break as their quest for a top five finish has been made harder. Off it they've had to suspend Enzo Fernandez for his comments about his future and all is not well heading into the business end of the season, despite reaching the semifinals of the FA Cup.

The total opposite is true for Manchester City as they won the League Cup trophy after comfortably beating Arsenal in the final before the break and they battered Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup quarterfinals last weekend. Pep Guardiola's new-look side are peaking at the right time of the season, just like they always seem to. And Arsenal’s defeat at home to Bournemouth earlier this weekend will have given City a boost in their title bid. That said, they have to win this game to set up a huge encounter at home against Arsenal next weekend.

Chelsea team news, focus

Enzo Fernandez is suspended by the club, while Reece James and Benoit Badiashille are both doubts. Levi Colwill, Filip Jorgensen, Trevoh Chalobah and Jamie Gittens are all out injured. Chelsea have so much talent in attack and can hurt City on the counter but the concern is their defensive injuries and a lack of confidence given recent results.

Manchester City team news, focus

There is so much confidence flowing through this City side and injuries have calmed down massively for them. Khusanov and Guehi have been superb as a center back duo, while Bernardo Silva and Rodri will lock down central midfield. Then in attack Haaland banged in a hat trick in the demolition of Liverpool with Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku all sublime in the attacking midfield roles. There is so much depth to this City side and they have finally found some much-needed defense balance and have gelled as a unit. Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias are out as they recover from injuries, while John Stones could be available on the bench.

Chelsea vs Manchester City prediction

This feels like City will dominate the tempo of the game and probably go a couple of goals up before Chelsea rally in the second half. But City will get the job done. Chelsea 1-2 Manchester City.

How to watch Chelsea vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 11:30am ET Sunday (April 12)

Venue: Stamford Bridge — West London

TV Channel: USA

Streaming: Watch on USA