Manchester City collapsed to their fifth straight defeat on Saturday, hammered 4-0 by Tottenham in another huge blow to their Premier League title hopes as Arsenal got their challenge back on track.
The rout at the Etihad ends City’s 52-game unbeaten home run and leaves manager Pep Guardiola scrambling for answers just two days after he signed a contract extension.
Before the start of the match, City staged a spectacular tribute to the injured Rodri, who showcased the Ballon d’Or trophy he won last month.
But the feel-good spirit did not last long as Spurs showed the home team how much they are missing the Spain midfielder, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
James Maddison scored twice in the opening 20 minutes and Pedro Porro extended the away side’s lead early in the second half.
Spurs completed their crushing win in stoppage time when Timo Werner raced down the left, squaring for Brennan Johnson to slide home.
The home side, who have lost their past three Premier League matches and their last five in all competitions, remain five points behind leaders Liverpool, who play their game in hand against Southampton on Sunday.
The four-time defending Premier League champions travel to Anfield next weekend, where defeat would leave their title hopes in tatters.
– Arsenal end winless run –
Arsenal earlier crushed Nottingham Forest 3-0 to pull level on 22 points with third-placed Chelsea, who saw off Leicester in the early kick-off.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were expected to be contenders to take City’s crown after finishing second in each of the past two seasons.
But they had failed to win in their previous four league games.
Martin Odegaard’s return from a long injury lay-off is a major boost to Arsenal’s hopes of a first title in more than 20 years and he teed up Bukayo Saka to blast home the opener on 15 minutes.
Saka turned provider for another special strike, this time by Thomas Partey early in the second period.
Teenager Ethan Nwaneri then came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal.
“I think we started really well,” Arteta told the BBC. “The sense I was getting in the last 48 hours after the international break, the boys coming together and were all at it.”
Speaking about Odegaard, who returned to action at Inter Milan earlier this month, he said: “It’s not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when he is playing.”
Chelsea remain ahead of Arsenal on goals scored after a 2-1 win on manager Enzo Maresca’s return to Leicester.
Nicolas Jackson scored the opener but Chelsea struggled to make their dominance count until Enzo Fernandez headed home, before a late consolation goal from the penalty spot for Jordan Ayew.
Aston Villa are now winless in six games in all competition and had to twice come from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace.
Ismaila Sarr and Justin Devenny twice put the Eagles in front either side of Ollie Watkins’ leveller before half-time.
Villa also had Youri Tielemans’ first-half penalty saved by Dean Henderson but the Belgian midfielder made amends with the delivery for Ross Barkley’s header to secure a point.
Brighton’s incredible start under 31-year-old boss Fabian Hurzeler continued with a 2-1 win at Bournemouth to climb up to fifth.
Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma were on target for the Seagulls, who survived playing the final half hour down to 10 men after Carlos Baleba saw red.
Wolves are out of the bottom three thanks to a stunning 4-1 win at Fulham, with Matheus Cunha scoring twice.
Everton failed to take advantage of an early red card for Brentford’s Christian Norgaard in a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.
Ruben Amorim takes charge of Manchester United for the first time in the pick of Sunday’s action when the Red Devils visit Ipswich.
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