Manchester City extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 17 points as Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus fired them to a 2-0 win at third-placed Leicester City on Saturday.
City now need, at most, 11 points from their remaining seven matches to secure their third Premier League title in four seasons.
The effects of the international break were barely noticeable on Pep Guardiola’s side, who dominated from the outset, having a Fernandinho strike ruled out for offside before Kevin de Bruyne crashed a free-kick against the bar.
Leicester were restricted to the counter-attack but went close to an opener on the stroke of halftime when Jamie Vardy rounded Ederson and slotted the ball home but he was narrowly offside.
City were finally rewarded for their control of the game in the 58th minute when, after keeper Kasper Schmeichel had parried out a Riyad Mahrez shot, Leicester failed to clear a Rodri cross and Mendy cut inside Marc Albrighton and side-footed into the far corner.
De Bruyne was at his very best and it was the Belgian who created the second with a glorious defence-splitting pass to Jesus, who fed Raheem Sterling, the England man taking his time before returning the pass to the Brazilian who poked home.
City have 74 points from 31 games with Manchester United behind them on 57 from 29 matches and Leicester on 56 from 30.
In the battle for Champions League qualification, Leicester are seven points ahead of fifth-placed West Ham United.
Chelsea humiliated
Relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion secured a stunning 5-2 win over 10-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to hand Thomas Tuchel his first loss as the London club’s manager.
West Brom, second-bottom of the table, moved seven points from the safety zone while Chelsea stayed fourth but could be overtaken by West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
Chelsea were looking to record an eighth consecutive clean sheet but Thiago Silva’s sending-off for a second yellow card after a reckless challenge opened the floodgates as West Brom ran riot.
“There’s no need to concede five goals when you have our quality,” Tuchel told BBC Sport after Chelsea’s worst home defeat in nearly 10 years.
“We could not adapt to the situation, which is a surprise as we were leading. We’re normally confident enough to defend but we were sloppy and kept making big mistakes. We were punished hard and it’s tough to digest.”
Tuchel said he “did not see the second half coming”. His side took the lead through Christian Pulisic in the 27th minute, but then lost Thiago and conceded twice in first-half stoppage time before West Brom inflicted further damage after the break.
Chelsea have four days to recover before they face Porto in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Leeds in top 10
Leeds United winger Jack Harrison netted in the first half and his cross led to an own goal in the second as his side moved into the top-10 with a 2-1 win over Sheffield United.
Leeds took the lead in the 12th minute when Harrison scored with a simple tap-in after excellent work by Raphinha to carve open the Sheffield United defence down the right. Harrison could have had a second when Blades defender George Baldock thundered into Tyler Roberts and deflected his attempted pass into the Leeds winger's path but this time he steered his shot wide with only the keeper to beat.
