Manchester City takes advantage of Arsenal's failure and relaunches the title fight » How the situation looks at the top of the Premier League
Article by Dragoș Petrescu – Published on Saturday, 06 December 2025, 19:15 / Updated on Saturday, 06 December 2025 19:16
Manchester City was imposed on the score of no-show on home ground in front of the newly-promoted Sunderland3-0, in a duel of the round with number #15 in the Premier League. Thus, Pep Guardiola's team came within two lengths of the leader Arsenal!
The full schedule of round #15 of the Premier League
Arsenal eventually lost to Villa, score 1-2, and City did not miss the opportunity to collect the ranking. Even though Haaland didn't score, Guardiola's men won in stride with Sunderland's revelation.
Dias, Foden and Cherki shone at the Etihad!
The Portuguese stopper opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a torpedo sent into Roefs' goal from outside the box, which sent the “citizens” fans into a frenzy. The man with the assist was Rayan Cherki.
Another defender, Josko Gvardiol, doubled the hosts' lead four minutes later, heading home a Foden corner.
The final score of the game was established in the second act, precisely in the 65th minute, the goal bearing the name of the same Foden, but the protagonist of the action was Cherki, who had fun with the defense of the guests, after which he sent a cross from the “rabona”, and the Englishman resumed with his head for 3-0.
The final notable event at the Etihad came in extra-time when new signing Luke O'Nien was sent off after a nasty foul on Matheus Nunes.
City came within two points of Arsenal!
Following this result, Pep Guardiola's side have amassed 31 points and moved within two lengths of leaders Arsenal.
On the other hand, Sunderland remained at the post with number 23 and dropped to 7th place in the ranking in England.
In the next round of the Premier League, the “citizens” will go to Selhurst Park, for the dispute with Crystal Palace, while Regis Le Bris's team will receive the visit of Newcastle.
Until then, however, the line-up at the Etihad Stadium will perform in a five-star duel. Next Wednesday, December 10, the group from Manchester will face Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, in the #6 stage of the Champions League. The game will start at 22:00 and can be watched in liveTEXT format on the GSP.ro website.
Premier League standings:
Manchester City – Sunderland » Starting teams:
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Donnarumma – Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly – B. Silva, Nico, Foden – Cherki, Haaland, Doku
reserves: Trafford – Ait Nouri, Ake, Bobb, Khusanov, Lewis, Marmoush, Reijnders, Savinho
Coach: Pep Guardiola
SUNDERLAND (5-4-1): Roefs – Mukiele, Geertruida, Ballard, Alderete, Hume – Traore, Xhaka, Sadiki, Le Fee – Isidor
reserves: Patterson – Adingra, Brobbey, Mayenda, Mundle, Neil, O'Nien, Rigg, Talbi
Coach: Regis Le Bris
Stadium: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)
Referee: Andrew Madley
