Rampant Man City send message to Arsenal, Tottenham relegation fears deepen

LONDON, April 12 : Manchester City dismantled Chelsea with a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge sending out an ominous statement to Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday while at the other end of the table Tottenham Hotspur's relegation fears deepened.

Arsenal's shock 2-1 defeat at home by Bournemouth on Saturday opened the door ajar for chasing City and they took full advantage with second-half goals by Nico O'Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku sealing the points.

City cut Arsenal's lead to six points and with a game in hand and next Sunday's home clash against Mikel Arteta's long-time leaders to come, the title race is boiling up again.

Roberto de Zerbi's first game in charge of struggling Tottenham failed to halt the club's downward spiral as a 1-0 loss away to Sunderland left the London club mired in the relegation zone with six games left to play.

Nordi Mukiele's wickedly deflected shot just past the hour mark sealed Tottenham's fate as their winless league run stretched to 14 games - their worst sequence since 1935.

Nottingham Forest earned an important point in their battle to stay out of the drop zone as they drew 1-1 at home to fourth-placed Aston Villa. Crystal Palace came from a goal down to beat Newcastle United 2-1 with Jean-Philippe Mateta's late double, including a stoppage-time penalty, sealing victory.

The last time Manchester City were in Premier League action, almost a month ago, an away draw at West Ham United appeared to have given Arsenal full control of the title race.

But an impressive League Cup final win over Arsenal, followed by a rout of Liverpool in the FA Cup has rejuvenated Pep Guardiola's side and Arsenal's slip on Saturday offered them a way back into the title race.

It took City a while to assert