Pep Guardiola's team moved to within six points of Arsenal ahead of next weekend's top-of-the-table clash between the two teams at City's Etihad Stadium -- and they also have a game in hand.
Nico O'Reilly, Marc Guehi and Jeremy Doku all scored in a blistering second-half performance at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as City took full advantage of Arsenal's shock defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.
While Arsenal's form has hit a slump at the worst possible time, City made it three statement wins in a row after rolling over Chelsea.
Victory followed triumph against Arsenal in the League Cup final and the 4-0 rout of Liverpool in the FA Cup last week.
While those three results all came in different competitions, City's charge has an ominous feel after they twice chased down Arsenal's lead to win the title in 2023 and '24.
Rayan Cherki was their inspiration at Stamford Bridge — setting up goals for O'Reilly six minutes after halftime and Guehi in the 57th, while Doku rounded off the win in the 68th.
The result didn't help Chelsea's bid to qualify for the Champions League, either, leaving them four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Tottenham's survival fight has taken another savage blow after a 1-0 loss to Sunderland left them rooted in the relegation zone.
In coach Roberto De Zerbi's first game in charge, Spurs fell to a 16th league loss of the season, with their 14-game winless run in the league dating back to the first day of the year.
Nordi Mukiele's deflected shot sealed the game at the Stadium of Light and plunged Tottenham's campaign deeper into crisis.
They're two points adrift of safety with six games to go, and their plight wasn't helped by relegation-fighting Nottingham Forest drawing 1-1 with Aston Villa.
Now on their third coach of the season, Spurs have picked up just one point from a possible 24 after suffering a seventh defeat in eight games.
If the hope was that De Zerbi would provide an immediate bounce in form after replacing Igor Tudor, but it didn't come in a typically toothless display at Sunderland.
Mukiele's 61st-minute winner took a wicked deflection off Micky van de Ven, but Spurs rarely looked like finding a way back into the match and an injury to Cristian Romero made a bad day worse for Spurs.
Forest moved three points clear of Spurs after a draw at the City Ground. Neco Williams' long-range shot levelled the game after a Murillo own-goal gave Villa the lead.
Crystal Palace came back from 1-0 down to beat Newcastle 2-1 at Selhurst Park, with Jean-Philippe Mateta hitting two late goals for the Eagles.
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