Gabriel Jesus scored four goals as Manchester City thrashed Watford 5-1 to open up a four-point lead in the Premier League title race, while Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-1 to take control of the race for fourth.
City are five games away from defending their title, but manager Pep Guardiola has warned they will need to win every one to hold off Liverpool’s storming end to the season.
Guardiola could afford the luxury of making six changes for the visit of the Hornets, who are headed back to the Championship.
Jesus, who was strongly linked with a summer move to Arsenal this week, was one of those recalled to the starting line-up and gave Guardiola a tough call to make in his selection for Real Madrid’s visit to the Etihad on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
The Brazilian took just four minutes to open the scoring with a tap-in from Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross and doubled City’s lead by heading home Kevin De Bruyne’s wicked ball into the box