April 12, (THEWILL) — Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City overcame a tentative first-half performance to defeat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, cutting Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the English Premier League to six points.
The home side carried the greater threat before the interval, with Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro both wasting good openings by firing into the side netting.
A Marc Cucurella effort was ruled out for offside, and City’s clearest first-half opportunity saw Robert Sanchez turn away a close-range Bernardo Silva attempt.
The second half was an entirely different contest. Rayan Cherki imposed himself on proceedings and laid on two contributions that proved decisive, turning City from a subdued outfit into commanding visitors.
O’Reilly broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, powering a header from Cherki’s cross beyond Sanchez.
Six minutes later, the Frenchman drifted across the penalty area before threading a pass into Marc Guehi, who finished with the conviction of a striker.
The third goal arrived in the 68th minute when Moises Caicedo surrendered possession to Jeremy Doku, who drove into the box and beat Sanchez at the near post.
Gianluigi Donnarumma completed the clean sheet with a late save to deny Cucurella’s header.
City will reduce the gap to Arsenal to three points if they win their meeting with the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium next week, and they still carry a game in hand beyond that fixture.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
