So, by comprehensively disassembling a dismal Chelsea, Manchester City have appropriately set the stage for next Sunday.
They know that if they beat Arsenal at home they will have definitively swung the title race, and that a win over Burnley can put them back on top. Mikel Arteta’s side are equally aware that even a draw still keeps the trophy in their hands.
You could say it’s the best possible setting, except this is not a meeting of two challengers both going in on their best form. It’s only one.
While Arsenal endure a long week of the soul at the worst possible time, City are coming together in a confidently exuberant manner. You could feel it among the fans, one of them captured drinking from an Arsenal bottle. You could feel it all around the stadium, amidst the anger of Chelsea fans, and – eventually – the many empty seats.
City supporters were singing like they were champions in waiting, for the first time in some time, and it was entirely justified.
They even made up some of the goal difference, winning 3-0. Arsenal can lament that Bournemouth were a much sterner challenge than Chelsea at this stage of the season, but that’s their own problem.
City meanwhile just added to Liam Rosenior’s problems, too.
Having initially come up with quite an effective gameplan, the young Chelsea coach had no response to Pep Guardiola’s half-time adjustments. It is yet another big game that the Catalan has swung through his own tactical insight, and an admittedly burgeoning squad.
They don’t really look “in transition” now.
Guardiola, for his part, pointedly said “it is the mindset, not the tactics”.
Nico O’Reilly has quickly matured into one of the best performing players in the league, and one of the most decisive.
His goals against Arsenal ensured he has already secured one trophy for City, and the crucial opener here – another towering header – may well have sent them on the way to the most important they can yet win.
It also caps a spell that is comprehensively impressive in another way.
While Arsenal have struggled against Southampton and Bournemouth, having looking so tepid in that Carabao Cup final, City have in the same sequence beaten: the current league leaders; the reigning English champions and the reigning world champions.
All of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have been dispatched in three different competitions with a record of nine goals scored and none conceded, to put Guardiola’s team in the best possible mindset for next Sunday and maybe the most important win of all.
Within that, though, there might also be a genuine football lesson.
Wider debates can be made about the advantages that come with the nature of the City project, and there will of course be references to the ongoing Premier League case – the club insist on their innocence. Taking the current situation as it is with Arsenal still six points clear after a game more played, though, only one side looks to actually be looking to maximise what they can do.
City are pushing out the margins of their play, expressing themselves, while Arteta’s team are playing within the margins, constraining themselves.
That may well be crucial, especially if this does come down to goal difference, as is highly possible.
Just look at the contrast from the closing stages of both of this weekend’s key title games.
Outside a frustrated and harried Eberechi Eze, Arsenal couldn’t really get on the ball. They couldn’t even sustain a wave of pressure, their attackers so frustrated, while the whole team struggled to just… play.
Against that, Rayan Cherki was in full flow. He was again loving it, just using another pitch as a canvas.
There was the artful ball to O’Reilly for the opener and then the incisive run and through ball to set up Marc Guehi.
It is remarkable to think that this was actually City’s first league win since 28 February, even if it is just two games.
That is how much has transformed over the recent cup interlude.
Jeremy Doku finally thundered in the third to just reflect a team playing without any doubt or hesitation.
They’d hit three in 17 minutes. It barely mattered that Erling Haaland again didn’t score.
The difference with Arsenal on Saturday couldn’t be more apparent, as the City fans asked whether they were watching over in north London.
“You have to play to win,” Guardiola said, while making a pointed comment about how going out of the Champions League has actually helped keep his side fresh.
Arsenal have now seen City ramp up in April a lot. When asked about a near-perfect record in this month during his time at the club, Guardiola laughed “it’s the sun”.
He was so relaxed afterwards he was imparting life lessons about “doing your best”.
By City’s third goal, a lot of Chelsea fans weren’t watching. Stamford Bridge had started to empty long before the end.
A malaise has engulfed the place. By that point, Enzo Fernandez’s punishment barely seemed relevant. Rosenior said the midfielder is now “in the clear” and he’s now “looking forward” to having him back. Are Chelsea’s fans really looking forward to anything, though?
The only teams they have beaten since 4 March are Wrexham and Port Vale.
Some allowances can be made for Rosenior in a situation that was complicated even before he came in – and he here pointed to Marc Cucurella’s disallowed goal – but was he ever ready for this?
It was abject. Even his substitutions seemed too late.
City are meanwhile coming to form at exactly the right time.
Far from a first Arsenal title since 2004, this is currently looking like it’s set up for a repeat of 2023.
As the manager himself said, it’s the mindset.
