City sits six points clear

Manchester City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to six points on Sunday, with a game in hand before the teams meet on April 19. (premierleague.com) City beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on April 12 after Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth on April 11. The official table now shows Arsenal on 70 points from 31 matches and City on 61 from 30. (premierleague.com 1) (premierleague.com 2) Nico O’Reilly scored in the 51st minute, Marc Guehi added his first league goal for City since his January move in the 57th, and Jeremy Doku made it 3-0 with 20 minutes left. Chelsea’s loss was their third straight league defeat. (premierleague.com) The gap matters because City still have one extra match to play, so a win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium next Sunday would cut the margin to three points. The Premier League said that if City beat Arsenal and both clubs win all their other matches, the title would be decided on goal difference. (premierleague.com) That is why the April 19 meeting has been framed as decisive. The league’s title-race explainer says City have home advantage and the standings have tightened sharply in the final weeks of the season. (premierleague.com) The weekend also moved the race around them. Crystal Palace beat Newcastle United 2-1, Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Aston Villa, Sunderland beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0, and Leeds United beat Manchester United 2-1 on Monday. (premierleague.com) Guehi’s goal stood out for another reason: City signed the England defender from Crystal Palace in January on a five-and-a-half-year contract. He now has 9 Premier League goals in his career, according to the league’s player statistics page. (premierleague.com 1) (premierleague.com 2) City also carry a recent run-in record that supports the late charge. The Premier League said Guardiola’s side have lost only one of 43 matches across their final 10 league games in the last five seasons, winning 32. (premierleague.com) The table still shows Arsenal first, but the next seven days now point at one match in Manchester. By Sunday evening on April 19, the title race could look either stable again or almost level. (premierleague.com 1) (premierleague.com 2)