Manchester City remained firmly in the hunt for the Premier League title following a crushing 3-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge which cut the gap at the top to six points.
Arsenal's defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday had opened the door for Pep Guardiola's side to take charge of their own destiny.
On Sunday, City emerged after the break to blow the home side away with three goals in 17 minutes to put Mikel Arteta's side under even more pressure.
Nico O'Reilly continued his scoring streak to break the deadlock in the 50th minute before Marc Guehi slotted in his first league goal for the club, while Jeremy Doku pounced on an awful error by Moises Caicedo to complete a dominant win.
Chelsea had a marginally better first half while City were strangely timid.
Cole Palmer lashed into the side-netting early on against his old team. Marc Cucurella had the ball in the net after 15 minutes, but was flagged offside then Pedro Neto drew a good low save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
As City came into form in the second half, Chelsea collapsed in the face of powerful opponents to leave their own hopes of reaching the Champions League in serious doubt.
The early promise which accompanied Liam Rosenior's first month in charge has evaporated.
Victory over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium next week will see City cut the gap to three points with a game in hand.
Spurs on the brink
New manager Roberto de Zerbi said changing the mentality of his Tottenham Hotspur players will be the key to avoiding relegation after his first game in charge ended in a 1-0 defeat by Sunderland.
Defeat stretched Tottenham's winless Premier League run to 14 games and left them in 18th place and in serious danger of the drop for the first time since 1977.
De Zerbi, hired to replace the hapless Igor Tudor who himself lasted only 44 days after replacing Thomas Frank, got his first look at his players in the heat of battle at the Stadium of Light.
The Italian manager now has six more games to save the London club from second-tier football.
“My job is not now to change the style of play. I did two or three things with the ball, two or three things without the ball, but the crucial part is not with the ball or without the ball. It's in our mentality to be positive,” he said.
“We have to find the right energy, the right spirit. When they stay with me during the week, they will find a positive coach because I believe in them. They are human and maybe they are suffering too much.
“We have to stay all together and close and improve in the details of the football, but to be better as a mentality.”
Next up is a clash with De Zerbi's former club Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend and he could be without his captain Cristian Romero who left the field in tears after colliding with Spurs keeper Antonin Kinsky shortly after Nordi Mukiele's deflected shot had given Sunderland the lead.
