Manchester City marked Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th match in management with a commanding 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Sunday, delivering a performance

that underlined their renewed title ambitions.

City struck twice before halftime through Erling Haaland and Nico González, while Jeremy Doku’s sensational second-half curler sealed a dominant win over a Liverpool side that rarely threatened in the Manchester rain.

The result trims Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to four points and signals that Guardiola’s team—dethroned by Liverpool last season—are building momentum again. It was also City’s first league win over Liverpool in two and a half years.

Haaland, who saw an early penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili, made amends with a powerful header in the 29th minute. González doubled the advantage on the stroke of halftime, effectively ending Liverpool’s hopes. Virgil van Dijk briefly thought he had levelled earlier, but his effort was ruled out. Doku’s curled finish just past the hour marked City’s superiority.

The defeat leaves Arne Slot’s Liverpool eighth in the table, eight points off the top, despite their Champions League triumph over Real Madrid earlier in the week.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa continued their impressive rise with a 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth, moving Unai Emery’s team into sixth. Emiliano Buendia’s sublime free kick opened the scoring before Amadou Onana added a second. Bournemouth improved after the break, but Villa closed out the victory with headers from Ross Barkley and a late strike turned in by substitute Donyell Malen.

Newcastle United’s domestic struggles persisted as they fell 3-1 at Brentford, despite leading through Harvey Barnes. Kevin Schade equalised early in the second half before Newcastle imploded—Dan Burn was dismissed for conceding a penalty, and an injury to goalkeeper Nick Pope forced Aaron Ramsdale into action. Igor Thiago converted the spot kick and added another in stoppage time. The defeat leaves Newcastle winless on the road and sitting 14th.

Nottingham Forest finally ended their long wait for a league victory, coming from behind to beat Leeds United 3-1 at the City Ground. Lukas Nmecha put Leeds ahead early, but goals from Ibrahima Sangaré, captain Morgan Gibbs-White, and a late penalty from Elliot Anderson earned Sean Dyche his first Premier League win since replacing Ange Postecoglou. Forest remain 19th but are now just a point from safety.

At Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace and Brighton played out a lifeless 0-0 draw, leaving the rivals 10th and 11th in the standings. Photo by Weloc, Wikimedia commons.