Manchester City have reduced the gap at the top of the league table.
Although Aston Villa moved up to second place with a fine victory earlier in the day, Pep Guardiola’s side didn’t allow them to linger there. In the following match, City bounced back emphatically, defeating Sunderland to reclaim their previous position.
At the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, City secured a 3-0 Premier League win.
Rúben Dias opened the scoring, before Josko Gvardiol doubled the lead in the first half. Phil Foden added a third in the second half to seal the victory.
Arsenal, who lost to Aston Villa earlier in the day, remain top of the table with 33 points from 15 matches. City are back in second with 31 points, while Villa drop to third with 30 points.
After four wayward shots in the opening 20 minutes, City finally broke through in the 31st minute. Dias unleashed a powerful long-range effort that took a deflection off Stuttgart defender Daniel Ballard and trickled into the net.
Just four minutes later, City doubled their advantage, this time thanks to another defender. Foden’s corner found Croatian star Gvardiol, who headed the ball in at the far post.
The first 15 minutes of the second half saw both teams creating excellent counter-attacking chances.
In the 52nd minute, City were unlucky as Jeremy Doku’s angled shot beat the goalkeeper but hit the far post. Foden’s follow-up attempt was blocked by Sunderland’s defense.
Sunderland then created a great opportunity on the break, but Willson was denied one-on-one by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Moments later, Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka saw his shot hit the post.
Erling Haaland had a chance in the 59th minute, but his effort was cleared off the line. Five minutes later, Foden almost guaranteed the win. Bernardo Silva’s pass found Ryan Sierki cutting through the box, who delivered a rabona cross to Foden, and he headed the ball in. It even kissed the crossbar on the way into the net.
Foden has now scored in three consecutive Premier League matches, following two goals in each of the previous two games.
Shortly after this goal, coach Guardiola substituted Haaland, Foden, and Gvardiol. City’s attacking momentum dipped slightly, but Sunderland were never able to threaten.
In stoppage time, Luke Terry of Sunderland was shown a straight red card for a dangerous foul on Matheus Nunes.
