Manchester City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to three points after a commanding 3-0 win over Fulham, while Aston Villa kept pace with a late 1-0 victory over Brighton on Wednesday.
Liverpool strengthened their push for a top-four finish by ending Sunderland’s season-long unbeaten home run with a 1-0 win.
At the bottom, Nottingham Forest missed a chance to pull clear of danger in a scoreless draw with last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers. Burnley, second from bottom, rallied to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 and boost their survival hopes.
City, who can ill afford any slipups in the title race, produced a sharp and controlled display to dispatch Fulham ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Brentford on Thursday.
Three goals in a 15-minute spell in the first half secured the points for Pep Guardiola’s second-placed side, which moved to 53 points from 26 games and kept the pressure on Arsenal.
Antoine Semenyo poked City ahead in the 24th minute and then set up Nico O’Reilly with a pinpoint pass for the second.
Phil Foden later found Erling Haaland, who fired home his 22nd league goal of the campaign to seal City’s 17th successive Premier League win against Fulham, the longest winning streak by one team against another in the competition.
“The team in certain moments is growing. People are coming back. It is really, really important,” Guardiola said.
Villa’s slim title hopes appeared to be fading as they labored at home against Brighton.
They secured the points in the 86th minute when Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood turned the ball into his own net. Midfielder James Milner, 40, came off the bench for his 653rd top-flight appearance, equaling Gareth Barry’s record.
Captain Virgil van Dijk scored for Liverpool as they became the first team to leave Sunderland’s Stadium of Light with three points this season.
The Netherlands defender met a Mohamed Salah corner just past the hour mark and the ball crossed the line despite Habib Diarra’s attempt to clear it.
Liverpool are sixth with 42 points, two behind Chelsea, which drew 2-2 at home to Leeds on Tuesday.
“We can’t deny that it feels very big, but there are still 12 games to go. So we have to keep improving and trying to find consistency,” Van Dijk said.
Forest had 35 attempts against Wolves at the City Ground but none found the net as Sean Dyche’s side dropped two important points.
The draw left Forest in 17th place, three points above third-from-bottom West Ham United.
“It is very frustrating to dominate a game like that, with so many chances. There were plenty of good chances, but it’s about finding that killer moment,” Dyche said.
“The crowd get nervy, the team get nervy. There is a lot of pressure on these games.”
Wolves have nine points and are now two shy of the lowest-ever Premier League total of 11 points set by Derby County in the 2007-08 season.
Burnley ended a 16-game winless run in remarkable fashion at Selhurst Park.
Palace were cruising after two goals from new signing Jorgen Strand Larsen inside the opening 33 minutes.
Burnley had not registered a shot on target in the first 39 minutes but went in front by halftime.
Hannibal Mejbri halved the deficit with a well-struck shot and Jaidon Anthony drove a low effort inside the post to equalize. Burnley then went ahead in first-half stoppage time after Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson parried a shot and the ball deflected in off teammate Jefferson Lerma.
Palace could not respond after the break as Burnley secured their first league win since October, leaving them nine points behind Forest.
