Manchester City produced a defiant response to the Premier League's charge sheet as they comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-1 to close to within three points of leaders Arsenal.
Goals by Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez put the result beyond doubt by halftime as City got back on track following last weekend's loss at Tottenham Hotspur.
With the club facing more than 100 charges relating to alleged financial misconduct the home fans were in belligerent mood at the Etihad Stadium with a series of ironic chants.
On the pitch, City's players showed they have not been distracted by the developments as they effectively wrapped up the points even before the halftime whistle.
Pep Guardiola's side needed only four minutes to take the lead when Rodri headed in Riyad Mahrez's corner and they were cruising when Erling Haaland set up Gundogan in the 39th minute.
Villa were left with mission impossible when Mahrez tucked away a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Jacob Ramsey was adjudged to have tripped former Villa player Jack Grealish.
Ollie Watkins scored for the third successive league match to reduce the deficit on the hour mark and Villa also struck the woodwork through substitute Jhon Duran late on but City never looked in any real danger of dropping points.
Champions City have 48 points from 22 games to Arsenal's 51 from 21 and can go top if they win at Arsenal on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho earned Manchester United a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Leeds United.
Chances were few and far between in a feisty first half between the Roses rivals, with Crysencio Summerville twice going close for Leeds and Bruno Fernandes wasting the visitors' best opportunity.
Erik ten Hag's team continued to struggle to break down the dogged hosts until the in-form Rashford headed home his 21st goal of the season in all competitions to finally break the Leeds resistance in the 80th minute.
Gaps started to appear with the deadlock broken and substitute Garnacho took advantage to put the game to bed five minutes from time, racing clear before firing home.
United are two points behind City, having played one game more, and five back of Arsenal, who have two games in hand over the Red Devils.
Reuters
