Manchester City put a difficult week behind them as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
The build-up to Sunday's meeting at the Etihad Stadium was dominated by news of the Premier League accusing City of breaking over 100 financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.
Pep Guardiola, managing his 250th Premier League game, delivered an impassioned defence of his club and his players performed as they returned to winning ways following their loss at Tottenham last week.
Rodri's header, Ilkay Gundogan's tap-in and Riyad Mahrez's penalty had City 3-0 up by the break, and though Ollie Watkins pulled one back for Villa, the champions comfortably closed the gap on Arsenal to three points ahead of Wednesday's crunch meeting between the top two.
Having jeered the Premier League anthem, City's fans had something to cheer inside four minutes, when Rodri headed in from Mahrez's corner.
Only a fine save from Emiliano Martinez prevented Gundogan – City's hero in the title-clinching comeback in last season's corresponding fixture – making it 2-0.
Martinez was fortunate to be awarded a free-kick after a collision with Erling Haaland allowed Gundogan to arrow home.
A glut of City chances went begging but their win was still all but ensured by half-time.
Gundogan got his goal after brilliant work from Haaland, with Mahrez slamming in from the spot after Jacob Ramsey fouled Grealish.
Having replaced Haaland at half-time, Julian Alvarez teed up City's first second-half opening – Martinez denying Rodri a second.
Watkins marked his 100th Villa appearance by scoring in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time, capitalising on Manuel Akanji's error.
It would prove nothing more than a consolation, with City unfortunate not to restore their three-goal cushion through Alvarez and Mahrez – who blasted over from close range late on – as they clinched a 13th straight home league win over Villa.
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"I think they are going to be together and try to respond on the pitch," Villa head coach Unai Emery said of City ahead of the game. "It is going to be very difficult. It's a big challenge for us."
That challenge proved too big for the visitors, with City seemingly determined to put on a show and make a statement of intent after the Premier League's allegations came to light.
City had 17 shots, got nine on target and finished with an expected goals (xG) of 3.64 – compared to 0.25 for their opponents – and they will move top of the table should they defeat Arsenal on Wednesday.
They did offer some chances to Villa in the second half, with Watkins punishing them and Jhon Duran rattling the crossbar, but City were well worth the three points.
Pep brings 250 up in style
Guardiola's 250th league game in charge of City featured some typically scintillating attacking play, and ended in a typically convincing success.
He has won 184 of those 250 matches (73.6 per cent), with his City side scoring 621 goals in the competition and toppling countless records.
Haaland concern
Comfortably up at half-time, Guardiola had the luxury of being able to take off City's star striker, who did appear to be nursing a thigh problem in the first half.
City fans will hope it was just a precaution, with their clash with Arsenal just around the corner. Haaland, who was largely frustrated in the defeat at Spurs, was a menace in the first half, with his assist for Gundogan his 29th direct goal contribution in the top flight this season (11 more than any other player in the league).
Haaland was involved in one small flashpoint during his time on the pitch, with Mahrez seemingly taking over penalty duties against the Norway international's wishes, though the incident was swiftly brushed aside.
What's next?
City head to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday in what seems set to be the first truly pivotal clash in this season's tittle race, while the Gunners are also Villa's next opponents on Saturday.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data Debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
Nuno encouraged by Forest's attitude and commitment, despite Man City defeat
Nuno Espirito Santo believes Nottingham Forest will "achieve what we want" by replicating the attitude demonstrated during their defeat by Manchester City.
Forest went down 2-0 against their title-chasing opponents at the City Ground, and remain just a point clear of the relegation zone with three games remaining.
Despite the defeat, the hosts produced a spirited performance against Pep Guardiola's side, while registering 14 shots on goal compared to 11 from the Citizens - meaning they had had more shots in both meetings this season.
Forest face already relegated Sheffield United, Chelsea and fellow strugglers Burnley in their final three games, and Nuno has seen enough to be confident of securing the Reds' Premier League status for another year.
"We played a good game, were compact, organised and had chances," he told Sky Sports. "We did a good job regarding how hard it is to play against Manchester City, and the players gave it a big go.
"We are disappointed with the result, but the encouragement comes from the way we work, how committed we are, and what we have ahead of us. This is more important.
"We stay positive, and we go for the next three games. With this attitude, we will achieve what we want."
Defender Moussa Niakhate echoes his manager's thoughts, adding: "We had three big chances in the first half, but we didn't score. That was the difference.
"Everybody is working hard. We can be proud. If we perform like this in the next three games, we'll stay up."
Napoli 2-2 Roma: Late Abraham header denies wasteful hosts
A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma in Serie A, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot a minute before the hour mark, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus fouled Sardar Amzoun.
However, Napoli equalised six minutes later through Matias Olivera's deflected shot, and completed the turnaround with their own penalty six minutes from time as Victor Osimhen tucked away after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was felled by Renato Sanches.
The hosts could not hold on, though, and were pegged back with two minutes to go. Substitute Abraham's header from a corner was eventually awarded following a VAR review after he had initially been ruled offside.
Data debrief
Napoli remain eighth in the Serie A table on 50 points, the exact amount they had registered after their opening 19 games of last season.
Though his penalty was not enough to earn Roma victory, Dybala continued his impressive start to 2024, during which he has been involved in the joint-most goals in Serie A with 12 (nine goals, three assists).
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