MANCHESTER, England — In his 1,000th game as a manager, Pep Guardiola celebrated victory as if it was his first.
Manchester City's 3-0 win against Liverpool on Sunday was the 716th victory for Guardiola and likely one of the most satisfying of his trophy-laden career.
Not only did City totally dominate the defending Premier League champion and one of Guardiola's fiercest rivals in a career spanning Spain, Germany and England - but victory firmly established his team as the one most likely to run Arsenal closest for the title this season.
City moved up to second in the standings - just four points behind the leader, with a well-established record when it comes to chasing down Arsenal. It happened in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024 and City's momentum has an ominous feel about it after taking advantage of Arsenal's surprise 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday.
By contrast, Liverpool - the runaway champion just six months ago - is slipping further adrift.
This was a fifth loss in six games. Having spent more than $400 million in the offseason, the Merseyside club is down to eighth in the standings and eight points off the top.
City fans mocked Liverpool coach Arne Slot by chanting he would be fired in the morning.
There is no suggestion his position is under any threat, but Liverpool's form will be a source of concern. So complete was City's superiority that Liverpool's morale-boosting win against Real Madrid in the week was put into perspective.
A 3-0 win could easily have been bigger, with Erling Haaland seeing a 13th-minute penalty saved before he headed City in front in the 29th.
Nico Gonzalez doubled the lead when his shot deflected off Virgil van Dijk in first half stoppage time.
Player of the match Jeremy Doku had tormented Liverpool throughout and he got a deserved goal in the 63rd when whipping in a curled effort from outside the box.
Newcastle loses again
Newcastle fell to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, losing 3-1 to Brentford.
Having lost to West Ham by the same score a week earlier, Eddie Howe's team once again took an early lead only to squander the points.
Harvey Barnes fired the visitors ahead at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Newcastle was stunned by a second-half fightback from Brentford and ended the match with 10 men after Dan Burn was sent off.
Kevin Schade leveled in the 56th, following Barnes' goal in the 27th.
Burn was sent off when bringing down Dango Ouattara in the box and Igor Thiago converted from the spot.
Thiago got his second in stoppage time to seal the win, which left Newcastle 14th in the standings and just two points above the relegation zone.
Manchester City and Liverpool played later Sunday.
Sean Dyche got his first league win as Nottingham Forest coach after his team rallied to beat Leeds 3-1 at the City Ground.
Victory came after last week's 2-2 draw with Manchester United and moved second-from-bottom Forest to within a point of safety.
Lukas Nmecha put Leeds ahead in the 13th minute, but Ibrahim Sangare equalized two minutes later. Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson - from the penalty spot - completed the comeback after the break.
Villa back to winning ways
Aston Villa quickly bounced back from defeat to Liverpool last week by routing Bournemouth 4-0.
Villa endured a desperate start to the season - failing to win any of its first six games in all competitions. But Unai Emery's team has powered back impressively by winning eight of its last 10.
Emiliano Buendia, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen all scored, while goalkeeper Emi Martinez denied Antoine Semenyo from the spot as Villa moved up to seventh in the standings.
Crystal Palace and Brighton drew 0-0 at Selhurst Park.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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