Manchester City marked Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th match as a manager with a commanding 3-0 victory over Liverpool, narrowing the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to just four points.
Erling Haaland overcame an early penalty miss to score his 99th Premier League goal with a header. Nico Gonzalez added a deflected strike, while Jeremy Doku sealed the win with a stunning effort, underscoring City’s challenge to Arsenal’s title hopes.
Liverpool, the defending champions, have now dropped five of their last six league matches, slipping to eighth place and eight points behind the summit.
This dominant display against Liverpool—the team that has been Guardiola’s fiercest rival since his 2016 arrival in England and ended City’s league supremacy last season—silenced any doubts about his side’s form.
Arsenal’s 10-match winning streak ended in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland on Saturday, allowing Guardiola’s team to capitalise in a clash between the Premier League’s dominant forces of the past decade.
“Thank you to the players and staff for giving me that incredible present,” Guardiola said after the milestone win.
He told his squad: “Guys, don’t do it because yesterday Arsenal didn’t win. Let’s do it to believe in ourselves.”
Facing the English champions, City demonstrated their ability to compete with Arsenal this season, and Guardiola felt they proved it on the pitch.
Despite some decisions going against Arne Slot’s side, the result highlighted Liverpool’s decline since their 2-0 triumph at the Etihad in February.
The Reds had shown revival signs by defeating Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the past week, but they could not match a resurgent City’s sharp play. City have now won 11 of their last 14 games across all competitions.
“We need to improve and that’s obvious,” Slot admitted.
“The first focus is getting results. The last thing we should focus on right now is the title race.”
Nottingham Forest claimed their first Premier League win under Sean Dyche, beating relegation rivals Leeds 3-1 at the City Ground.
Forest fell behind in the 13th minute when Lukas Nmecha’s low shot found the corner.
They levelled just two minutes later through Ibrahim Sangare’s close-range finish from 10 yards.
Morgan Gibbs-White headed in Omari Hutchinson’s 68th-minute cross to complete the turnaround.
In stoppage time, Elliot Anderson converted a penalty after Hutchinson was fouled by Jack Harrison, sparking more celebrations for Dyche.
This was Forest’s first league success since their opening-day win over Brentford in August.
Leeds, after a sixth defeat in 11 league games, sit just two points above Forest.
Aston Villa continued their strong form with a 4-0 thrashing of Bournemouth, securing five victories in their last six league outings.
Newcastle’s poor away record persisted in a 3-1 loss at Brentford.
Following a 3-1 defeat at West Ham last weekend, Newcastle remain in 14th and have not won a league match on the road in nine attempts since April.
Crystal Palace and Brighton played out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park, leaving both sides in mid-table.
