Guardiola hails 'outstanding' first-half against Fulham as City turn up title heat

Pep Guardiola's men followed up their dramatic late turnaround at Liverpool by cruising to victory at the Etihad, piling pressure on the Gunners ahead of their midweek trip to Brentford.

The contest was effectively decided inside the opening 45 minutes as City struck three times in a ruthless 15-minute spell.

The breakthrough came when Sander Berge's attempted defensive header went astray, allowing Antoine Semenyo to pounce from close range.

Semenyo then went from scorer to provider, threading a perfectly weighted pass through for Nico O'Reilly, who lifted the ball over Bernd Leno to make it 2–0.

City wrapped up the points before the interval when Phil Foden released Erling Haaland, and the striker finished clinically into the bottom corner.

Speaking after the match, a bullish Pep Guardiola vowed his side would take the fight to Arsenal and keep "breathing down their necks" in the title race.

"We were not nine points [adrift] before Anfield, we are not three points [adrift] before Brentford v Arsenal, after that we will see.

"I always say the focus is to grow, grow, grow. It's how we can be more consistent over 90 minutes, how we can be better and the players feel that [they are] doing what we want to do.

"We can do it in terms of mentality and patterns defensively and offensively. We are doing that."

Semenyo, who arrived from AFC Bournemouth in January, has already scored five goals, while City have also added England international Marc Guehi, who helped them secure another clean sheet.

"We were together, more calm with the ball, we made inside, outside [runs]. I would say the position was not perfect for Nico O'Reilly and Phil [Foden] but sometimes it happens to be in better positions, but in general really pleased.

"We suffered a lot at Fulham and today, after physically and emotionally at Anfield, it is really tricky but we talked a lot and I said 'guys we have to do it again' and we did it."