Manchester City took a big step towards retaining the Premier League title with a 2-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday sending it back to the top of the table.
City has 89 points, one more than rival Liverpool, with both teams having three games to play — and none of them against top six opponents.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remains in sixth place with 64 points, outside the Champions League qualification slots as the early promise of the Norwegian’s reign dissipates.
United is surely keen to get this season over with and begin the rebuilding it needs —it has now lost seven games out of its last nine in all competitions and was outclassed after the break by City’s composed, intelligent passing and movement.
Second-half goals from Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane ensured a comfortable win for City, which has now won 11 straight league games.
The form book suggests City should win the title, much to the frustration of Liverpool which has lost just once this season.
However, City captain Vincent Kompany was not getting carried away.
“Nothing is played out yet. Burnley is a difficult away game next and there is plenty to play for, both for us and Liverpool. We will deal with the other games in the next days,” said the Belgian.
“We need three wins. We cannot expect the opponent to drop points.”
United, smarting from its 4-0 hammering at Everton on Sunday, at least played with aggression and energy in the scoreless first half but created little beyond an optimistic long-range effort from Marcus Rashford.
City was slow to find top gear although the irrepressible Silva tested David de Gea with a thundering drive and Raheem Sterling shot straight at the Spanish keeper after dribbling his way to space inside the box.
Guardiola was forced to adjust his line up six minutes after the interval when Brazilian holding midfielder Fernandinho went off injured and Sane was introduced.
But it was no surprise that Portuguese winger Bernardo Silva was the man who broke through.
He picked the ball up on the right flank and cut inside on to his left foot, surprising de Gea with a low drive that sneaked in the bottom corner in the 54th minute.
United’s night was summed up when some rare shaky defending from City saw the ball loop towards the back post but Jesse Lingard mis-kicked completely and the opportunity had gone.
City then doubled its lead —Fred giving the ball away in midfield, Sterling breaking forward before feeding Sane on the left with the German’s powerful drive flying in off the outstretched leg of de Gea, who probably should have done better.
“There is a difference in quality. That is why they are top and we are where we are,” said Solskjaer.
“They have set the standard. Living in Manchester we cannot be happy with that. It is up to us to close that gap and overtake them,” he said.
Arsenal’s fragility on the road returned as a 3-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers put a huge dent in its hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Unai Emery’s side needed only a point to reclaim fourth spot from Chelsea but conceded three times before the break against a clinical Wolves side which moved up to seventh.
Ruben Neves opened the scoring with a superb 28th minute free kick before Matt Doherty’s glancing header made it 2-0 nine minutes later.
Dreadful Arsenal defending allowed Diogo Jota to surge through and fire a shot past Bernd Leno on the stroke of halftime.
A late Sokratis Papastathopoulos header from Granit Xhaka’s cross was scant consolation for the Gunners. fans who watched their side lose a seventh away league game this season.
With three games left Arsenal remains in fifth place with 66 points, a point behind Chelsea and four behind third-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester United is sixth with 64.
Wolves rose to seventh spot with 51 points —a position that could offer a route into European football next season —and is set to become the first promoted club to finish in the top eight since Reading in 2006-07.
Arsenal has now lost two matches in a row following Sunday’s home defeat by Crystal Palace and it may need the backup option of winning the Europa League to claim a place in next season’s Champions League.
Emery remained confident it can finish in the top four.
“We can be frustrated but the Premier League is about being consistent over 38 matches,” the Spaniard said.
“Today we’re disappointed but we need to remember how we were three months ago.
“We can be optimistic and recover for the top four.”
Arsenal dominated possession in the first 20 minutes but Joao Moutinho served notice of Wolves’ threat as he curled wide after a flowing counter-attack.
Nacho Monreal was then penalised for a foul on Jota and Neves sent his curling free kick past Leno.
Arsenal switched off at a corner in the 37th minute, allowing Moutinho and Jonny to exchange passes before the latter’s cross was glanced by Doherty past a flailing Leno.
In first-half stoppage time Arsenal carelessly conceded possession and Jota’s angled shot beat Leno.
Arsenal did tighten up after the break but the damage had already been done.
Incredibly Wolves have now picked up 16 points in their matches against the current top six this season with wins over Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and now Arsenal. The results:
Premier League: Manchester United 0 lost to Manchester City 2 (Bernardo Silva 54, Sane 66); Wolves 3 (Neves 28, Doherty 37, Jota 45+2) bt Arsenal 1 (Sokratis 80).
La Liga: Atletico Madrid 3 (Morata 9, Griezmann 49, Correa 81) bt Valencia 2 (Gameiro 36, Parejo 77-pen); Espanyol 1 (Wu 33) drew with Celta Vigo 1 (Gomez 72).
Leganes 0 drew with Athletic Bilbao 1 (En-Nesyri 43-o.g.); Levante 4 (Campana 9, Moron 32-og, Morales 56-pen, Coke 81) bt Real Betis 0.