Pep Guardiola believes his team cleared an "important" hurdle after a 2-0 win over Newcastle United allowed Manchester City to pile pressure back onto Arsenal.
Goals from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva saw City come out on top in the first Premier League game of the weekend.
The victory trimmed Arsenal's lead to two points just minutes before the Gunners kicked off against Bournemouth, and there are likely to be plenty more twists and turns to come in the title race, as Guardiola acknowledged.
His post-match comments also seemed to indicate he believes Manchester United are in the mix, too.
"Before the game it was 'bye', now we are 'hello'," Guardiola told BT Sport. "Many things are going to happen.
"Today was an important game, and tomorrow we are going to sit in front of the TV to watch Anfield [Liverpool against United]. That's what we are going to do."
Silva's clinching goal ensured it was ultimately a routine City win, although the champions were less dominant than they had been against Nottingham Forest a fortnight earlier when they conceded a late equaliser.
Guardiola recognised his team had to "suffer" as Newcastle applied pressure in the second half, with Silva delighted to come through a tough test.
"Throughout this season we have had very good moments," Silva told BBC Sport, "and then for one reason or another we've slipped in weird ways in weird games.
"We're trying to get back to the momentum where the team feels good and that it is in a good run, step by step and game by game."
Assessing the title race, the City midfielder added: "I prefer to be first; it's much better [than second].
"Arsenal are in a much better position than us, but we're going to try to control just what we can. If we focus too much on if they will slip or not, we will slip ourselves."
Arsenal 1-0 Rosenborg: Maanum strike ensures Champions League progression
Frida Maanum's first-half strike ensured Arsenal progressed to the second round of Women's Champions League qualifying after a 1-0 win over Rosenborg.
Maanum netted the only goal of the game in the 19th minute after Caitlin Foord saw her cross spilled by Rugile Rulyte, with Maanum on hand to finish from close range.
The Gunners could have made the encounter more comfortable as Alessia Russo's header came back off the crossbar to conclude a dominant first half.
Arsenal struck the woodwork a further two times after the interval, through Russo and Kyra Cooney-Cross, with Leah Williamson also seeing her header cleared off the line.
But Jonas Eidevall's side were able to restrict their opponents to very little, with the hosts ending the contest with 30 shots, though only five of those were on target.
Arsenal go through to the next stage of the next stage of the competition, which is a knockout tie played across two legs.
De Bruyne ready to take centre-stage on Man City return
Kevin De Bruyne is confident he will be fit and firing upon his return to Manchester City after starring in Belgium's opening fixture of their Nations League campaign.
De Bruyne scored twice in the Red Devils' 3-1 win over Israel on Friday, taking his international tally to 30 goals in 106 appearances since his debut in 2010.
He contributed an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.64 to Belgium's total of 3.53, also playing more passes in the final third (34) than any other player on the pitch.
Domenico Tedesco's side travel to Lyon on Monday to face France, who were beaten 3-1 by Italy in their opening fixture in Group A2, with De Bruyne in line to start again.
The 33-year-old has started the season with a goal and an assist in three Premier League appearances, both coming during City's 4-1 win against Ipswich Town.
De Bruyne has also created 11 chances so far in English football's top flight, a total only bettered by Dwight McNeil (13) and Andreas Pereira (14).
But when questioned whether City manager Pep Guardiola would be happy with him playing back-to-back 90 minutes, De Bruyne said: "You'll have to ask him!
"Well, as long as I feel good, it's okay and it's up to the coach to decide. After France, I have six days before the next match with City."
Belgium will be looking to avenge their Euro 2024 defeat to Didier Deschamps' side, having been knocked out at the last-16 stage by Jan Vertonghen's late own goal.
After the Red Devils' meeting with France, they will face Italy and Les Bleus again next month, concluding their group campaign against the Azzurri and Israel in November.
"When you play six group games, every game is important," De Bruyne added. "We only have two days to rest and get ready. But the pressure will be on them now."
Despite their victory over Israel on Friday, head coach Tedesco was left wanting more from his players ahead of their stern test against France.
"We started well and scored straight away, but after the goal we lost some of our self-confidence", said Tedesco.
"Fortunately, we were sharper after the break, showed courage with vertical football and high pressure, in order to create quite a few chances again. That is a positive sign."
Cristiano Ronaldo scores 900th goal: The stats behind Portugal great's latest landmark
Another match, another landmark for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner insisted he still has more to offer at the international level this week, and he brought up 900 career goals by netting in Portugal's Nations League Nations League opener versus Croatia.
It was a typical poacher's finish that brought up Ronaldo's latest landmark, the forward beating his marker to Nuno Mendes' left-wing cross to sidefoot home and put Portugal 2-0 up inside the first half.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Ronaldo will now surely be targeting the big 1,000, though Pele's FIFA-recognised figure of 1,281 goals will surely prove beyond the 39-year-old.
As Ronaldo plots a route to four figures, we dive into the Opta data to look at how he reached his current total, highlighting the most interesting facts and figures.
Ronaldo's 900th career goal was also his 131st in 213 appearances for Portugal, with both of those figures being all-time records both for the Selecao and for any male player on the international stage.
The ultimate goal poacher, he has scored 109 of those from inside the penalty area, though only 20 have come from the penalty spot – he memorably missed his last spot-kick for the Selecao, versus Slovenia in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.
Ronaldo struggled at this year's tournament in Germany, where he had 23 shots but failed to find the net – the first time he has not scored at a major international competition. Only fellow Portugal great Deco has ever had more efforts at a single edition of the Euros without scoring, firing off 24 shots without success at the 2004 tournament.
However, Ronaldo does boast 22 goals at the World Cup/Euros for Portugal overall, winning the Golden Boot with five strikes at Euro 2020, five years on from captaining the Selecao to their maiden trophy. Only two of those, though, have come in knockout matches – versus the Netherlands at Euro 2004 and Wales at Euro 2016.
Still, Ronaldo's international legacy speaks for itself, and his achievements on the club stage are even more impressive.
Ronaldo scored five times for boyhood club Sporting CP before leaving for Manchester United, for whom he plundered 145 goals across two separate spells.
He has broken three figures with all but two of his clubs, netting 101 times for Juventus and being well on the way to doing so with Al-Nassr, for whom he has 68 goals.
It was at Real Madrid, however, where Ronaldo earned his goal machine tag, scoring exactly half his career goals (450) for Los Blancos and helping them win the Champions League four times.
He is the leading goalscorer in Madrid's illustrious history, some 96 clear of former team-mate Karim Benzema (354), who represented the club 648 times, compared to Ronaldo's 438 appearances.
Overall, Ronaldo has scored 573 of his goals with his favoured right foot, with 173 coming via his left and almost as many – 152 – coming via headers, with his aerial prowess becoming increasingly notable throughout his career.
What about dead balls? Ronaldo has converted 164 penalties for club and country, including a spot-kick in the 2014 Champions League final versus Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo's free-kick taking has been an area targeted by those looking to do down on his achievements at times, but he has scored 64 direct free-kick goals throughout his career, the latest coming in a 4-1 win over Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League before the turn of the month.
Where, then, do Ronaldo's achievements rank versus those of his peers? Drum roll please... Ronaldo is currently some 62 goals ahead of his great rival Lionel Messi, who has 838 career strikes for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina.
With Ronaldo firing on all cylinders in Saudi Arabia and looking unlikely to give up the ghost at international level any time soon, few would bet against him extending that advantage before the two greats hang up their boots.
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