Erling Haaland matched Mohamed Salah's scoring record in a 38-game Premier League season as Manchester City swatted aside lowly Leicester City 3-1.
Free-scoring City had the game won by the 25th minute at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with Haaland scoring twice after John Stones' stunning opener.
Subbed off at half-time, Haaland has now netted 32 league goals this season, matching Salah's haul from the 2017-18 campaign.
Sloppy defending allowed Kelechi Iheanacho to grab a consolation for Leicester in Dean Smith's first match in charge, with the former City striker hitting the post in stoppage time as the hosts rather staggered over the line to reduce Arsenal's lead to three points.
City enjoyed 93 per cent possession in the opening five minutes and were rewarded when Stones arched a brilliant left-footed strike into the right-hand corner.
Leicester's slim chances of snatching a much-needed shock victory were further dented when Wilfred Ndidi was deemed to have handled from Jack Grealish's cross.
Haaland slammed away the resulting penalty, and had his second 12 minutes later, brilliantly collecting in Kevin De Bruyne's throughball and lifting a cute finish over Daniel Iversen.
With an eye on the midweek trip to Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola took the chance to rest both of his goalscorers at half-time.
Rodri joined Stones and Haaland in earning a rest shortly after, with Kalvin Phillips handed a rare league appearance, although City's composure turned to complacency when Iheanacho tapped in after Harry Souttar's header was saved by Ederson.
James Maddison missed a golden chance to set up a grandstand finish when he failed to beat Ederson, before Iheanacho struck the woodwork between two hopeful penalty appeals, albeit Leicester's resurgence was too little, too late.
What does it mean? Almost too easy for City
Guardiola will not have been happy with his side’s display in the second half, albeit the stuttering nature of their performance can in large part be put down to the amount of changes made.
The first half was a different matter altogether. City purred, having eight shots, scoring with all three they got on target and registering 1.9 expected goals to Leicester's 0.22.
Leicester's new interim boss Smith, meanwhile, will target matches elsewhere as he looks to drag the Foxes out of danger, though his team had their chances to make a fight of it late on.
Another record tumbles
Haaland's goal tally for the season now stands at 47. The British single-season record stands at 63, scored by Everton legend Dixie Dean back in the 1920s, and you would not bet against the 22-year-old surpassing it.
His next top-flight goal will see him set a record for the most scored in a 38-game Premier League campaign, while he is only two short of the outright competition record, which is shared by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole.
Ton up for De Bruyne
De Bruyne was the creator of Haaland's second goal, nipping in ahead of the lacklustre Ndidi to steal the ball in midfield before playing a perfect pass through to City's superstar striker.
It brought up De Bruyne's 100th Premier League assist for City, while it was the eighth time the Belgium international has teed up Haaland in the competition.
What's next?
City travel to Bavaria for that game against Bayern, while Leicester face Wolves next Saturday.
Man Utd cannot afford to get complacent – Ten Hag
Erik ten Hag urged his players not to get complacent against a Burnley side who are still fighting for their place in the Premier League.
After a run of four games without a win in the top-flight, Manchester United came from behind with late goals from Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund to beat bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United on Wednesday.
The Red Devils sit in sixth place on 53 points, three more than Newcastle United below them, but have not yet secured a place in Europe next season.
When asked what kind of challenge Burnley would pose, Ten Hag was full of praise for the way Vincent Kompany has set up his team.
“They play high-intensity football. They have changed their approach slightly in the season. They have had good results and are hard to beat, and all the compliments to Vincent and his staff.
“We can’t afford to think [it’s only X] about any opponent. With the team we have available, we have to be creative. We have to take every opponent with 100% focus. We can’t allow and do a little bit less.”
Burnley’s survival hopes were given a huge boost last weekend with an impressive 4-1 win against Sheffield United, leaving them just three points behind Nottingham Forest in 17th.
With just four games left of the season, Kompany highlighted the characteristics have kept the Clarets within touching distance of the teams around them.
He said: “The biggest thing is consistency, hard work and making sure to not get distracted by the outside noise has been the main factor. We haven't found the recipe for Champions League football yet, but we are improving every game.
"I know we still have a chance and that's all that matters to me, whether it's two teams, three teams or four teams still in it, it doesn't matter too much to me.”
Pochettino urges Chelsea players to have more self-belief
Mauricio Pochettino has reminded his team to respect themselves as they prepare for another tough game against Aston Villa on Saturday.
After being knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City last Saturday, the Blues were thrashed 5-0 by title-chasing Arsenal in midweek for their 11th defeat of the season.
Chelsea still have an outside chance of finishing in the top seven as they sit just three points behind Newcastle United with two games in hand.
Asked if his side are capable of putting the disappointment of their last two results behind them, Pochettino said: “Lack of belief, in the circumstances, sometimes happens.
“We tried to realise how we need to behave when the game is tough when the demands are so high. We need to try and be more strong and to trust in the way that we play, in our philosophy, in the way we prepare the games.
“We need to be positive, and we need to be strong and believe tomorrow we can have a good game, good attitude, good approach. We are going to compete again with another team, fighting for the top. We need to think we are Chelsea and respect ourselves."
Luis Enrique confident PSG are in perfect form with three titles up for grabs
Paris Saint-Germain can wrap up the Ligue 1 title this weekend, and with the Champions League and Coupe de France still to play for, they are in the best possible form, according to manager Luis Enrique.
PSG host relegation battling Le Havre on Saturday, and a win will secure the league title with three games still to play, leaving them to concentrate on a Champions League semi-final with Borussia Dortmund and the cup final against Lyon.
"I think we are heading into the final phase of the season in great form," said Luis Enrique.
"I wouldn't have imagined this scenario going as positively as this, but what happens in the future is what happens. I would say we are in fantastic form in every way. We have almost every player available. Our supporters are very happy.
"The club has so much ambition to achieve something else. It is a really attractive end to the season, which we are motivated for, and we will continue to fight to achieve all our targets."
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