Man City seize momentum of Premier League title race after masterclass over Arsenal

Billed as a Premier League title decider, it was barely even a contest as Manchester City thrashed Arsenal 4-1 on Wednesday to close in on becoming English champions for the fifth time in six years.

City have not even hit top spot yet as Arsenal remain two points in front.

But the momentum of the title race looks to have decisively swung the way of Pep Guardiola's men as they have the chance to pull away into the distance with two games in hand.

RECAP | Man City outclass Arsenal to take control of Premier League title race

The Gunners have only lost four games all season but tellingly two of them have come when faced with the ultimate test in City.

A 3-1 home defeat when the sides met in February was at least a game decided by fine margins. This time round it was a rout.

"We lost in a very different way at the Emirates," said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. "Today the quality in the performance was very far away from what we are capable of."

A brittle Arsenal defence, shorn of the reassuring presence of William Saliba, could not contain the power of Erling Haaland, even if it did take until the final attack of the game for the Norwegian to score his 49th goal of the season.

Haaland instead turned provider, twice, for Kevin De Bruyne to fire home early in each half.

In between times, Arsenal's weakness at defending set-pieces was exposed as John Stones rose highest to head home De Bruyne's free-kick in first half stoppage time.

Guardiola heaped praise on his former assistant Arteta before the game for raising the standards at Arsenal to bring them back into contention for a first Premier League title in 19 years.

But Arteta still cannot find the antidote to beat his former boss as Arsenal have now lost 12 consecutive league games