City mate Arsenal
City has chained an 18th straight victory in all competitions by going to win at Arsenal (1-0) and keep their 10 points ahead of their pursuer, Leicester.
Arsenal, 10th with 34 points after this 11th defeat of the season, for 10 wins and 4 draws, sees the European wagon moving further away.
With the return to the starting lineup of Kevin de Bruyne, a month after his last tenure, and associated with Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling or Ilkay Gundogan, City displayed impressive offensive power.
But they had to be content with a goal at the very start of the match, on an uncrossed header from Sterling, alone in the middle of the Gunners' defense to take over a center from Mahrez, to make the difference (1-0, 2nd).
Sterling and Gundogan could however have widened the gap in a first half hour one-way, before the debates are balanced a little.
But the defensive base of Pep Guardiola's men allowed them to go through this match almost without fear and to take one more step towards a reconquest of the league title, before finding Wednesday the Champions League which continues to resist them, with an eighth-final first leg in Budapest - the Covid-19 pandemic requires - against Mönchengladbach.
Leicester pass the 2nd
Pending the reception of Newcastle by Manchester United in the evening (20h00 / 19h00 GMT), Leicester seized second place in the standings ahead of the Red Devils by beating outsider Aston Villa on their lawn.
With 49 points, the Foxes are three steps ahead of United, but the latter have a favorable goal difference that will restore them to their rank of runner-up to Manchester City if they succeed.
Deprived of his master to play Jack Grealish and faced with a formation which has the best record outside the championship (30 points taken out of 39 possible), Villa failed to correct an unfavorable start to the match.
The 2016 England champions struck by James Maddison (1-0, 19th) and Harvey Barnes (2-0, 23rd), under the eyes of England coach Gareth Southgate in full scouting for his selection of 23 players in the optics of Euro-2020 this summer.
The former Lyonnais Bertrand Traoré gave hope to his family from the start of the second act (2-1, 48th), but Leicester showed a lot of control to keep three precious points.
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Premier League standings