Manchester City survived a scare at Luton to end their four-match winless run in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory, while Chelsea’s problems mounted with a 2-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday.
With star striker Erling Haaland absent due to injury, Pep Guardiola’s side trailed to Elijah Adebayo’s goal late in the first half at Kenilworth Road.
But, after squandering a host of chances, City finally clicked into gear with two goals in three minutes after the break.
Bernardo Silva equalised and Jack Grealish bagged the winner to give City a much-needed first victory in five league matches.
After their lethargic 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Wednesday, which followed draws with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, City were in danger of falling out of the title race.
Liverpool’s win at Crystal Palace on Saturday had moved the leaders seven points clear of City.
But fourth-placed City responded with a gritty display to close the gap on Liverpool to four points.
Meanwhile, Everton continued to shrug off the impact of a 10-point Premier League deduction as victory over Chelsea took the Toffees four points clear of the relegation zone.
Abdoulaye Doucoure opened the scoring at Goodison Park before Lewis Dobbin’s first Everton goal imposed another damaging defeat on Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Without the penalty for breaching financial rules, which Everton are appealing, Sean Dyche’s men would be four points above Chelsea in mid-table.
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