At Etihad Stadium, Manchester City put on a remarkable display of skill to overwhelm the Premier League leaders, Arsenal, and dealt a significant psychological blow to their title aspirations.

The highly anticipated encounter, which was touted as a potential title-decider, turned into a disappointingly one-sided affair.

With two games in hand, Pep Guardiola's side, now just two points behind Arsenal, were spurred on by the devastating partnership of Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne.

In the seventh minute, Haaland sent De Bruyne through for a silky opener, and although Arsenal survived a constant barrage of attacks, they couldn't prevent John Stones from heading home from a free-kick in first-half stoppage time. The goal was initially ruled offside, but VAR intervened and confirmed the goal's validity.

Haaland was exceptional throughout the match and set up De Bruyne for the third goal in the 54th minute, with the Belgian passing a classy finish between the legs of Arsenal defender Rob Holding.

Although Holding scored a consolation goal for Arsenal late on, Haaland, who had been denied four times by Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale earlier in the match, sealed a memorable night with his 49th City goal.

City now have a chance to move to the top of the table with a victory at Fulham on Sunday, while Arsenal must somehow recover from a slump that has seen them go four league games without a win at a crucial stage of the season.