Manchester City striker Erling Haaland

LONDON - Manchester City made a significant statement in the Premier League title race, beating troubled champions Liverpool to take advantage of a stumble by leaders Arsenal.

Emerging teenage star Estevao Willian had the antidote to Chelsea’s anxiety as the Blues bolstered their own title ambitions.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the weekend’s action:

Dazzling Doku clicks for City

Liverpool’s Conor Bradley locked down the threat of one of the world’s best in Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in midweek, but the right-back had no answer for a sublime display from Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku.

The Belgian winger has shown signs of finally adding end product to his pace and trickery this season and produced arguably the best performance of his three seasons with City to inspire a vital 3-0 win over the Reds on Sunday.

After shining in the Champions League against Real, Bradley was torn to shreds by Doku, who set the tone by winning an early penalty.

Even though that was missed by Erling Haaland, City were not stopped for long as the Norway striker and Nico Gonzalez netted before half-time in Pep Guardiola’s 1,000th match in management.

Doku rounded off his man-of-the-match display with a blistering strike as City laid down a marker in the title race.

“He’s taken his game to the next level,” said former City defender Micah Richards. “He’s got that conviction now.”

City trail Arsenal by just four points and, with Doku and Haaland in red-hot form, another title charge is brewing at the Etihad Stadium.

Arteta irked by Arsenal slip

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Sunderland left him with a stomach ache as he bemoaned their rare defensive collapse.

Brian Brobbey stabbed home from Dan Ballard’s header in the fourth minute of stoppage-time to end Arsenal’s 10-game winning run in all competitions.

Former Arsenal defender Ballard had put Sunderland ahead before Bukayo Saka equalised and Leandro Trossard blasted the Gunners into the lead.

Losing their impressive run of eight consecutive clean-sheets was a bitter blow for Arteta.

“A pain in my tummy because I don’t want to concede any goals! It put the game in a difficult position,” he said of Ballard shattering the shut-out streak.

“The last feeling, it’s disappointment and frustration because we wanted the three points.

“We knew that Sunderland would be very disruptive. We have to deal with situations that are obviously difficult to deal with. We conceded a goal that is not in our standards.”

Estevao heats up

Chelsea’s Estevao Willian has struggled to adapt to the London weather after moving from Brazil, but the teenage star is in red-hot form on the pitch.

Estevao has been Chelsea’s stand-out performer in the first half of the season and he delivered another influential cameo in Saturday’s 3-0 win against bottom of the table Wolves.

Chelsea were booed off at half-time after being held goalless, but Malo Gusto broke the deadlock before Estevao came on to set up Joao Pedro’s goal less than two minutes after his introduction.

Pedro Neto tapped in Chelsea’s third to catapult them into third place, six points behind Arsenal, but it was Estevao who earned special praise from Blues boss Enzo Maresca.

“I can understand first half people were not happy because we didn’t score. Then when Estevao came on the energy raised because people love that kind of player,” he said of the 18-year-old.

“You can see his talent. We are trying to help him to adapt and give him the right minutes.

“He arrived from Brazil, he needs time to adapt, but he’s going to start games for us in the future.”