Rayan Cherki produced one of the assists of the season as Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-0 to move within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Having seen the Gunners slip to a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa earlier on Saturday, City took their chance to move within touching distance of the summit, aided by Cherki's brilliance.

In the 65th minute, Cherki sat Omar Alderete down on the right side of the area before producing a sensational rabona cross, which Phil Foden headed against the crossbar and in.

City were already 2-0 up by that point, with centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol both scoring within four first-half minutes.

Dias' thunderous 25-yard strike deflected in off Dan Ballard in the 31st minute, before Gvardiol ghosted onto Foden's in-swinging corner to score with a downward header.

Sunderland came out firing early in the second half, with Gianluigi Donnarumma sparing Dias' blushes with a one-v-one save after the centre-back's error allowed Wilson Isidor in, before Granit Xhaka rattled the upright with a fine half-volley.

But the Black Cats' hopes of a comeback dissipated after Foden's goal, and their woes were compounded when Luke O'Nien jumped into a reckless challenge on Matheus Nunes and was dismissed five minutes into second-half stoppage time.

O'Nien, who had only entered the fray as a substitute in the 88th minute, will now be suspended for the first Tyne-Wear derby in the Premier League since 2016, with Newcastle United visiting the Stadium of Light next weekend.

Data Debrief: Foden's resurgence continues

Though Cherki will earn plenty of plaudits for his pair of assists, Foden also supplied two goal involvements to continue his excellent run of form.

Foden has now had a hand in nine goals in seven starts for City across all competitions since the start of November (seven goals, two assists), more than any other Premier League player during this period. 

Indeed, Foden has scored in three consecutive appearances for the Citizens for the first time since November 2023.

City have now won 25 of their last 27 Premier League games against newly promoted sides (two draws), since a 1-2 home loss to Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United in April 2021.

They were fully deserving of the points after racking up 18 shots with an expected goals (xG) value of 2.31, compared to Sunderland's eight shots and 0.74 xG.