Manchester City close gap in title race with emphatic victory at Chelsea

After a season dominated by long throws, set-piece wrestling and rigid, overly controlled football, all of a sudden the overwhelming artistry and firepower at Manchester City’s disposal is threatening to take over when it matters most.

This game was taken away from Chelsea during a blistering spell of attacking at the start of the second half and, by the end, it was impossible not to feel the same applied to the title race. Strike up the Jaws music – Pep Guardiola’s sharks are circling. There was blood in the water after Arsenal’s defeat by Bournemouth and, after meandering through a tepid first half, City eventually found their bite at Stamford Bridge.

There were no favours for Arsenal from Liam Rosenior’s callow Chelsea. City did not look back after taking control with another vital goalscoring contribution from Nico O’Reilly, increasingly Guardiola’s man for the big occasion, and a thrilling spell from Rayan Cherki. The Frenchman was instrumental in this 3-0 win, tormenting Chelsea with his quick footwork and eye for a pass. Cherki, who has now collected 10 assists in his first season in the Premier League, laid on goals for O’Reilly and Marc Guéhi as City moved six points off Arsenal with a game in hand. The sides, of course, meet at the Etihad Stadium next. The gap is being chiselled away.

So many of City’s titles have featured them summoning an immediate response to a slip from a rival. Few are more proficient at handling the pressure, at pouncing on the first sign of weakness from a challenger, and as this game kicked off it was hard to shake off the sense of a side primed for the big push.

Not at first, mind you. Initially there was hope for Arsenal. There were aimless passes, bad touches and missed connections from City. Almost improbably, they were short of freedom and often looked vulnerable to quick, cleverly coordinated counterattacks.

Chelsea were in self-denial mode, with Enzo Fernández still absent after his flirtation with Real Madrid, but they produced a mature first half. Andrey Santos was diligent alongside Moisés Caicedo in midfield. Chelsea worked to compress the space and they were dangerous when they successfully baited the City press. Cole Palmer was always looking to take the ball on the half-turn and City were rattled by a flurry of openings for Chelsea.

Palmer had the first chance, lashing into the side-netting. João Pedro threatened, forcing a block from Abdukodir Khusanov, and Chelsea had joy when they played balls behind Matheus Nunes at right-back.

Pedro Neto took his Portugal teammate on and drew a sharp save from Gianluigi Donnarumma. João Pedro dropped deep, turned and found Marc Cucurella, but the left-back was a whisker offside when he fired past Donnarumma.

Nico O'Reilly heads Manchester City into a second-half lead at Stamford Bridge. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

City could not find Erling Haaland, although there were always going to be times when they broke through. When they did, though, a swift exchange releasing O’Reilly on the left, Robert Sánchez dealt with Bernardo Silva’s flick from the left-back’s cross.

Guardiola’s half-time words must have been delivered with a decent level of anger because City were a different side at the start of the second half.

Chelsea could not cope with the shift. This was where they missed the leadership of the suspended Fernández and the injured Reece James. There was no response when City, realising the urgency of the situation, raised the speed of their passing, sharpened the angles and began to slice through Chelsea.

Haaland had his first sight of goal but miscued badly. Cherki fired narrowly wide, and it did not take long for Chelsea to crack. Too slow to smell danger, they paid for not stepping out when Cherki toyed with them on the right. City’s No 10 had too much time to make up his mind and, from his gorgeous cross, O’Reilly was able to peel away from Santos before glancing an unstoppable header past Sánchez.

O’Reilly, whose double saw off Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, has developed the knack of coming up with important goals. Cherki, meanwhile, was in his element. Four minutes after the opener, he collected the ball on the left, danced inside and strode past a couple of powderpuff challenges. Then, just as he made to shoot, he fooled Chelsea by threading a ball inside a gap left by Jorrel Hato and Neto, leaving Guéhi to punish his boyhood club by driving a low shot past Sánchez.

Chelsea, staring at a fifth defeat in their past six games in all competitions, unravelled. It was 3-0 when they tried to play out from the back. Caicedo turned into trouble and was outmuscled by Cherki and Jérémy Doku, who cantered through the middle before beating Sánchez easily.

A familiar springtime story was playing out: an Arsenal wobble followed by the City charge. They will take some stopping.