Heading into the final weeks of the season with every game growing in importance, Manchester City piled on the pressure on Arsenal to keep pace following a 4-0 win over Fulham on Saturday.
Josko Gvardiol opened the scoring for City in the 13th minute in what was the first of his two goals on the day. Phil Foden doubled their lead in the 59th minute with Gvardiol tallying his second in the 71st. Julian Alvarez put the cherry on top with a penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win puts City two points above Arsenal pending the result of the match between the Gunners and Manchester United on Sunday.
Regardless if Arsenal beat Manchester United and reclaim the top spot in the table, they'd have played one more game, meaning that City have their fate in their own hands.
"Our dream is, as we said a few weeks ago when lost against Aston Villa, was to arrive in the last games with it in out hands, to play West Ham at home with the destiny belonging to us," Pep Guardiola said following the match.
That's exactly what Manchester City has done.
Guardiola is used to dealing with the pressure of playing important games and it's demonstrated, more often than not, when his team reaches this point of the season.
"I have a feeling out players like to play with the pressure," Guardiola said. "There are these personalities in this team who must enjoy playing with pressure. You can't play knowing if you lose a game you lose the title. You can't play with this in mind."
On paper, City could take a definitive edge in the race for the Premier League title when they take on Tottenham on Tuesday. Should they beat Spurs, and assuming Arsenal beat Manchester United, they'll have played the same number of games but City will have a two point advantage heading into the last matchday.
It's not a guarantee given City's struggles against Spurs the last couple of seasons. In a bit of happenstance, if Arsenal want to win the league, they will need to root for Spurs to do them a favor and take points off Manchester City.