Defiant Man City close gap on Arsenal

Manchester City comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-1 to close to within three points of leaders Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Meanwhile, late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho earned Manchester United a hard-fought 2-0 Premier League victory at Leeds United on Sunday.

Goals by Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez put the result beyond doubt by halftime as City got back on track following last weekend's loss at Tottenham Hotspur.

Pep Guardiola's side needed only four minutes to take the lead when Rodri headed in Riyad Mahrez's corner and they were cruising when Erling Haaland set up Gundogan in the 39th minute.

Villa were left with mission impossible when Mahrez tucked away a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Jacob Ramsey was adjudged to have tripped former Villa player Jack Grealish.

Ollie Watkins scored for the third successive league match to reduce the deficit on the hour mark and Villa also struck the woodwork through substitute Jhon Duran late on but City never looked in any real danger of dropping points.

Champions City have 48 points from 22 games to Arsenal's 51 from 21 and can go top if they win at Arsenal on Wednesday.

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