Manchester City took a huge step towards retaining the Premier League title as Kevin De Bruyne’s sublime strike sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea, while the pressure mounted on Everton boss Rafael Benitez after a 2-1 loss at Norwich yesterday.
Later, Philippe Coutinho made a dream debut for Aston Villa as the Brazil star’s late equaliser capped a thrilling fightback from two goals down against Manchester United in 2-2 draw.
De Bruyne broke Chelsea’s stubborn resistance with 20 minutes to play at the Etihad Stadium. The Belgian midfielder escaped N’Golo Kante and bent a perfectly-placed shot into the far corner of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s goal from 20 yards. City’s 12th successive league win moved them 13 points clear of second placed Chelsea, effectively ending the Blues’ title aspirations. Third placed Liverpool, 14 points adrift of City with two games in hand, can close the gap with a win against Brentford today.
City manager Pep Guardiola admitted it was a vital victory in his team’s bid for a fourth title in five years. But Guardiola refused to write off a late challenge from Liverpool or even Chelsea, who beat City in last season’s Champions League final.
“All the players gave everything and it was an important victory because they are a big contender,” Guardiola said. “But in January no one is champion. We can think about Chelsea, and Liverpool have games in hand. If they win it will be eight points and eight points in January is nothing.”
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel appeared to send his team out with a defensive mindset. But after the game, the German was critical of Romelu Lukaku, who gave the latest in a long list of subdued displays since his club record transfer from Inter Milan last year.
“Sometimes he has to do the service. He had many ball losses and a huge chance. Of course we want to serve him but he’s part of the team.” Tuchel said. “The performance up front in the first half, we can do much, much better.”
Four years after he last played in the Premier League with Liverpool, Coutinho made an instant impact on his return to England following his loan move from Barcelona this week. Coutinho came off the bench midway through the second half with Villa trailing 2-0 after Bruno Fernandes’s double for United.
The 29-year-old provided the assist for Jacob Ramsey to give Villa hope with 13 minutes left. Coutinho then converted Ramsey’s cross five minutes later to ensure Steven Gerrard’s side made amends for their FA Cup third round exit at United on Monday.
Coutinho suffered a disappointing time at Barcelona, but Gerrard was confident he could bring the forward back to his best after playing with him at Liverpool.
United have now gone two league matches without victory after losing to Wolves in their previous top-flight game. With United languishing in seventh place, there will be fresh questions about interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
At Carrow Road, Norwich moved off the bottom of the table to leave Benitez fighting to save his job. Dean Smith’s side took the lead in the 16th minute with their first goal in seven matches since November. Everton defender Michael Keane stuck out a foot to block Josh Sargent’s low cross, but instead diverted it into his own net.
Just 90 seconds later, Brandon Williams picked out Adam Idah and the young forward poked past Jordan Pickford. With fans waving a ‘Benitez get out of our club’ banner, Brazil forward Richarlison reduced the deficit with an audacious overhead kick on the hour mark. It wasn’t enough and Benitez, already disliked after his spell with Everton’s Merseyside rivals Liverpool, is in deep trouble with his team only six points above the relegation zone.
Watford rescued a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Newcastle thanks to Joao Pedro’s late leveller. Allan Saint-Maximin gave Newcastle the lead in the 49th minute, pouncing on Jeremy Ngakia’s slip and jinking past two defenders before drilling a superb low strike beyond Ben Foster.
But Newcastle couldn’t add a killer second goal and Pedro made them pay with an 88th minute equaliser, the Brazilian thumping a header past Martin Dubravka from Kiko Femenia’s cross. Newcastle, who gave a debut to New Zealand striker Chris Wood after his move from Burnley, slipped to second last and remain two points behind fourth-bottom Watford.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has managed only one league win since replacing Steve Bruce in November. Wolves beat Southampton 3-1 at Molineux to extend their unbeaten league run to four games. Raul Jimenez gave Wolves the lead with a 37th minute penalty awarded for Jan Bednarek’s foul on Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Conor Coady got their second in the 59th minute before Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse netted with an 84th minute free-kick. Adama Traore wrapped up the points for Wolves in stoppage time.

Premier League results
Aston Villa 2 (Ramsey 77, Coutinho 82) Manchester United 2 (Fernandes 6, 67); Manchester City 1 (De Bruyne 70) Chelsea 0; Newcastle 1 (Saint-Maximin 49) Watford 1 (Pedro 88); Norwich 2 (Keane 16-og, Idah 18) Everton 1 (Richarlison 60); Wolves 3 (Jimenez 37-pen, Coady 59, Traore 90) Southampton 1 (Ward-Prowse 84)
Postponed: Burnley v Leicester; Tottenham v Arsenal
Playing today (1400 GMT): Liverpool v Brentford, West Ham v Leeds
Played Friday: Brighton 1 (Anderson
87-og) Crystal Palace 1 (Gallagher 69)