A brace by Ilkay Gundogan put Manchester City within touching distance of the Premier League title following their comfortable 3-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
City moved four points ahead of Arsenal, who play Brighton later today at home. Both teams have three games remaining.
Due to the defending champions’ superior goal differential, five points from their remaining matches will likely be sufficient for a fifth championship in six years.
“We have a very experienced team and competing in the last few games of the season is not a new situation for us, and that helps us a lot,” said Gundogan. “It’s about staying calm and trust in your abilities.”
Everton is only one point above the relegation zone and could fall into the bottom three on Monday if Leicester defeats Liverpool.
In contrast to Everton, City are still on track for a treble and could afford to give some of their stars the afternoon off before Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
“It’s a dream come true being here,” said City coach Pep Guardiola. “The only team in Europe to be fighting in all competitions. Still it is not over, in the Premier League is it never over. We need two more wins to be champions.”
John Stones, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Jack Grealish were left on the bench as Guardiola made four substitutions from the team that drew 1-1 in the first leg in Madrid on Tuesday.
It took the visitors 35 minutes to find their footing, by which time they should have trailed after Mason Holgate missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring after James Tarkowski headed down a corner kick.
Within three minutes of Holgate’s penalty kick, the game was over.
Guardiola had harsh words for Gundogan despite the German scoring twice in last week’s 2-1 victory over Leeds. The midfielder missed a late penalty after Erling Haaland gave him the opportunity to complete his hat-trick.
Gundogan made amends with a brilliant touch to control and then flick in Riyad Mahrez’s cross to break the deadlock.
Moments later, he set up the second with a floated cross that allowed Haaland to score his season-high 52nd goal with only his third touch in 39 minutes.
At halftime, Everton manager Sean Dyche demonstrated that he, too, was already thinking about his team’s final two games of the season by replacing injured star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin with Neal Maupay.
“He felt a tight groin, but a tight groin can become a damaged groin,” said Dyche. “It would have been a harder call if it had been 0-0 but at 2-0 I had to make a call.”
Guardiola could not have asked for a more tranquil second half to prepare for the visit of the European champions in midweek, as Gundogan’s third goal six minutes after the break made it 3-0.
The 32-year-old is likely in the final month of his seven-year stay in Manchester, as his contract expires at the end of the season and Barcelona is rumoured to be ready to pounce on a free transfer. However, he appears poised to leave on a high note.
Gundogan curled a free-kick past Jordan Pickford’s desperate dive for his ninth goal of the season.
In the battle to avoid relegation, goal difference could be decisive, and Everton managed to stop the bleeding at three.
In fact, the home team had the best chance to score in the final quarter when Amadou Onana’s header crashed off the crossbar.
