Champions Manchester City moved a step closer to being crowned Premier League champions with a 2-1 win against Leeds United on Saturday as Chelsea finally won for the first time under caretaker boss Frank Lampard.
Just hours after the pomp and ceremony of the coronation of King Charles III in London’s Westminster Abbey, City underlined their desire to extend their own reign as they chase a fifth Premier League title in six seasons.
Ilkay Gundogan scored City’s goals in the first half, before missing a late penalty that set up a tense finale when Rodrigo got one back for Leeds.
City held on to climb four points clear of second-placed Arsenal.
In tribute to the King, the national anthem was played before kick-off at all four-afternoon Premier League games.
But it is Pep Guardiola who lords it over the Premier League and the City boss is on the brink of leading his team to a third successive title.
Arsenal can close the gap on City to one point if they win their tricky trip to third-placed Newcastle on Sunday.
However, Guardiola’s men will have a game in hand on Arsenal after that fixture and need three wins from their last four matches to be certain of retaining the title.
Relentless City have won their last 10 league games and are unbeaten in 20 matches in all competitions while defeat in Sam Allardyce’s first match in charge left Leeds one place above the relegation zone on goal difference.
With Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg at Real Madrid on Tuesday in mind, Guardiola made seven changes to his starting line-up.
Elsewhere, Chelsea won for the first time in Lampard’s second spell in charge, beating Bournemouth 3-1 to end a six-match losing streak.
Conor Gallagher headed Chelsea into a ninth-minute lead, diverting N’Golo Kante’s cross beyond Neto.
Chelsea’s fans responded with ironic chants of ‘we are staying up’ in reference to their unusually low league position.
Matias Vina equalised with a 21st-minute curler, but Benoit Badiashile volleyed in Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick for his first Chelsea goal in the 82nd minute.
Joao Felix’s 86th-minute strike wrapped up Chelsea’s first victory in 10 matches in all competitions.
Chelsea moved up to 11th place but still in danger of finishing in the bottom half of the table for the first time since 1996.
In Saturday’s late game, Salah extended his scoring record on home turf as Liverpool edged Brentford 1-0 to close the gap on fourth-placed Manchester United to one point, having played two games more than their rivals.
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