On Wednesday, Manchester City dominated leaders Arsenal 4-1 to take control of the Premier League title battle and inch closer to defending their English championship. Kevin De Bruyne scored twice in the victory.
With two games in hand over Arsenal and a two-point advantage at the top of the standings, Pep Guardiola's team can afford to lose one of their next seven games and still win the league for the fifth time in six years.
Prior to their journey to the Etihad, the Gunners' attempt to win the league for the first time in 19 years was already in trouble since Mikel Arteta's team had lost their previous four games.
But when City displayed their strength, they were genuinely outclassed for the first time this season.
The addition of Erling Haaland has given a team that already dominated the English game a new dimension.
Deep into stoppage time, Haaland established a new Premier League record with 33 goals in 38 games, bringing his season total across all competitions to 49.
The initial goal was curled past Aaron Ramsdale by De Bruyne after only seven minutes thanks to a brilliant touch from the Norwegian, who demonstrated that there is more to his game than simply goals.
Arsenal was lucky not to be completely destroyed before halftime since they never recovered from that disastrous start.
De Bruyne nearly exactly replicated his first goal after being left free in behind by Haaland, but Ben White's last-ditch challenge stopped him.
The tall 22-year-old Ramsdale then made three stops to hold Haaland at bay and keep Arsenal in the contest.
However, there was no relief when John Stones headed in a De Bruyne free-kick in the last seconds of the first half, and a VAR review determined the English defender was in the right place.
following the interval, as the City striker sprinted clear through following Ederson's long ball, Ramsdale continued to prevail in his conflict with Haaland.
However, Arsenal lost the battle as Haaland set up De Bruyne again for a nutmeg on Rob Holding on minute 54.
Holding, who has struggled to fill in for the injured William Saliba, has been made the target of Arsenal's defensive troubles in recent weeks.
With 10 goals surrendered in their past four games, Arteta's team will find it very difficult to improve in the remaining weeks of the season and maintain any form of pressure on City.
With four minutes remaining, Holding, an unexpected player, scored a goal for Arsenal, giving them at least a point.
However, even if Arsenal responds, City still seems unstoppable as they inch closer to winning not only a third straight Premier League championship, but also a triple.
The main obstacle next month seems to be a matchup with Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals, with the FA Cup final versus local rivals Manchester United coming up on June 3.
When Haaland ultimately defeated Ramsdale with almost the last kick of the game, he broke Mohamed Salah's previous record of 32 Premier League goals in the 2017–18 campaign.
