City impress, close gap on Gunners

Manchester City produced a defiant response to the Premier League’s charge sheet as they comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-1 to close to within three points of leaders Arsenal.

Foden, de Bruyne and Rodri
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Goals by Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez put the result beyond doubt by halftime as City got back on track following last weekend’s loss at Tottenham Hotspur.

With the club facing more than 100 charges relating to alleged financial misconduct the home fans were in belligerent mood at the Etihad Stadium with a series of ironic chants.

On the pitch, City’s players showed they have not been distracted by the developments as they effectively wrapped up the points even before the halftime whistle.

Pep Guardiola’s side needed only four minutes to take the lead when Rodri headed in Riyad Mahrez’s corner and they were cruising when Erling Haaland set up Gundogan in the 39th minute.

Villa were left with mission impossible when Mahrez tucked away a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Jacob Ramsey was adjudged to have tripped former Villa player Jack Grealish.

Ollie Watkins scored for the third successive league match to reduce the deficit on the hour mark and Villa also struck the woodwork through substitute Jhon Duran late on but City never looked in any real danger of dropping points.

Champions City have 48 points from 22 games to Arsenal’s 51 from 21 and can go top if they win at Arsenal on Thursday.

Meanwhile late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho earned Manchester United a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Leeds United.

United are third on 46 points, while Leeds are now winless in nine Premier League matches, their longest run without a victory in the competition since 10 games 1997.

They’re one place and one point above the relegation zone.

Southampton parted ways with manager Nathan Jones after the Welshman won just one Premier League game during his three-month tenure to leave the south-coast club rooted at the bottom of the standings.

Jones is the second Saints manager to lose his job this season after the former Luton Town boss was appointed in November as Ralph Hasenhuettl’s replacement a few days before the World Cup break.

While the Saints reached the fifth round of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of the League Cup after beating Manchester City, the club failed to get out of the relegation zone in the league.