Man City cut gap to league leaders Arsenal to four points

Pep Guardiola's City came into the match at the Etihad without a win in four league games in 2026 and smarting after an embarrassing 3-1 Champions League defeat at Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.

Erling Haaland was left on the bench after just one goal in five league matches, with Guardiola explaining his star forward needed to "clean a little bit his mind and body".

Centre-back Marc Guehi made his debut five days after his move from Crystal Palace, easing City's crippling defensive crisis that has claimed John Stones, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush put the home side ahead in the sixth minute, finishing sharply from a Matheus Nunes cross for his first Premier League goal of the season.

City made it 2-0 shortly before half-time when Antoine Semenyo scored his third goal for the club in all competitions since arriving at the Etihad from Bournemouth earlier this month.

The win lifts City to 46 points -- four behind Arsenal, who host Michael Carrick's Manchester United on Sunday.

But bottom club Wolves, 14 points from safety, appear to be doomed despite a recent uptick in results.

Fulham came back from a goal down to beat Brighton 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

Samuel Chukwueze cancelled out Yasin Ayari's spectacular first-half strike for the visitors and Harry Wilson grabbed a winner in stoppage time.

Earlier, West Ham blew Sunderland away 3-1 to make it two wins out of two and climb to within two points of Premier League safety.

The home side effectively had the game sewn up by half-time after Crysencio Summerville's opener, Jarrod Bowen's penalty and a long-range rocket from Mateus Fernandes.

Nuno Espirito Santo said West Ham still needed new signings in the January transfer window to maintain their survival bid.

"We have one week to go," he said. "I still believe that we need to rebalance our squad. We need options in some positions."

Champions Liverpool are in action at Bournemouth in the evening kick-off with the chance to consolidate fourth position.

Mohamed Salah, recently returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, was named in the club's Premier League starting line-up for the first time since November.