Manchester City moved two points off Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 3-0 victory over Sunderland, who finished with 10 men after Luke O'Nien was sent off late on.
Both of Man City's centre-backs, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, scored in the space of four first-half minutes to put Pep Guardiola's team in command.
Rayan Cherki created the opener for Dias with a simple layoff but his second assist was the standout moment of the match, as his sensational rabona cross from the right was headed in off the crossbar by Phil Foden.
Granit Xhaka hit the base of a post with Sunderland's best chance, and the visitors' woes were compounded when substitute O'Nien was dismissed for a high challenge on Matheus Nunes in stoppage time.
While the victory takes City back above Aston Villa and within touching distance of the summit in second place, Sunderland sit seventh in the table with 23 points.
How the match unfolded
Sunderland gave as good as they got in an even start, but City went ahead in the 31st minute as Cherki teed up Dias 25 yards out and his thunderous effort deflected off Dan Ballard and flew into the net.
Dias' central-defensive partner quickly added a second goal, with Gvardiol meeting Foden's inswinging corner to nod home.
Jeremy Doku curled against the far post early in the second half, with Foden's follow-up attempt being heroically blocked by Ballard, before Sunderland missed two golden chances.
Gianluigi Donnarumma spared Dias' blushes with a one-v-one save after the centre-back's error allowed Wilson Isidor in, while Xhaka rattled an upright with a fine half-volley.
Some silky footwork from Cherki led to Erling Haaland having a shot headed off the line by Lutsharel Geertruida, but the playmaker signed from Lyon in the summer produced one of the assists of the season for Foden soon afterwards.
Cherki almost capped a wonderful showing with a goal when he forced Robin Roefs into a fingertip save, then the final action of note saw O'Nien see red for a reckless lunge on Nunes.
City boosted by clean sheet and cheeky Cherki
City were almost on the wrong end of one of the all-time Premier League comebacks on Tuesday, as they were forced to hang on for a 5-4 win at Fulham, having led 5-1.
Guardiola subsequently said City needed to be more solid, but his defenders saved their biggest impact for the attacking third on Saturday.
While Dias' opener was aided by a deflection, the centre-back's willingness to take on the strike from distance evoked memories of Vincent Kompany rifling home against Leicester City in May 2019 – a goal that proved pivotal in that season's title race.
Watch: Dias' goal v Sunderland
"No Ruben, don't shoot!" 😅👀 pic.twitter.com/hqeSnm83R2
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 6, 2025
The only change to Guardiola's line-up following the Fulham victory was Cherki replacing Tijjani Reijnders, and the France international gave Sunderland left-sided centre-back Omar Alderete a torrid time in the second half.
He sat the Paraguayan down brilliantly in the build-up to Haaland's 59th-minute chance, then repeated the trick prior to his rabona assist, which prompted audible gasps from the stands when the replay was shown on the big screens.
Watch Cherki's sensational assist
Guardiola will believe there is room for improvement after City gave up a couple of big opportunities early in the second half, but both the clean sheet and Cherki's heroics will cheer the City manager ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League trip to Real Madrid.
Having taken advantage of Arsenal's slip-up at Villa Park earlier on Saturday, City are next in Premier League action at Crystal Palace on 14 December.
No birthday celebration for Le Bris
Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield in midweek represented another feather in the cap of Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris, who has overseen a fairytale return to the top flight.
The Frenchman was celebrating his 50th birthday on Saturday, but his players were unable to provide him with the perfect present despite another battling display.
They enjoyed a couple of promising forays forward in the opening 30 minutes – one nervous header back from Nico O'Reilly forced Donnarumma into sweeper-keeper duty, while Enzo Le Fee shot into the side-netting after skipping inside Nunes.
Ballard could count himself unlucky to play a part in City's opener, but Le Bris will be bitterly disappointed about the way Gvardiol ran off the back of Le Fee and got the jump on Xhaka to score with a downwards header.
The Sunderland boss will be encouraged by the way they put City on the back foot early in the second half, but their hopes of a comeback faded after Isidor and Xhaka had gone close.
The major frustration for the visitors will be O'Nien's red card, which came just seven minutes after he replaced Trai Hume from the bench. He will be suspended for the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016, as Newcastle United visit the Stadium of Light next week.
Club reports
Man City report | Sunderland report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: "Many things are going to happen. It's down to the way we play, not how many points behind we are. It's the way you perform. Consistency doesn't come from one result, it's to be strong in many departments, in the last 9-10 games we have been good. We have suffered a lot but we have to learn for it not to happen again. Score five goals against Fulham, you are doing good things."
Regis Le Bris: "Negative emotions but good experience for us. Tough to repeat high performances at this level and we knew that the games we have had was a strong sequence. We did well against Liverpool, not at our best today and City's quality is relentless. Tactically, we were well organised. It's not enough. Progressively they got closer to our goal and just one shot made the difference."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Man City have won 12 of their last 13 Premier League games at home, including each of the last seven in a row since a 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in Matchweek 2.
Sunderland suffered their heaviest league defeat of the season and their heaviest in the Premier League since losing 5-1 at Chelsea on the final day in 2016/17.
Foden has had a hand in nine goals in seven starts for Manchester City across all competitions since the start of November (seven goals, two assists), more than any other Premier League player during this period. Indeed, Foden has scored in three consecutive appearances for Man City for the first time since November 2023.
Dias has scored two goals in his last four Premier League appearances for Manchester City, as many as in his previous 132 games in the competition.