Man City continue to pursue Premier League leaders Arsenal by beating Aston Villa 3-1

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - Manchester City continued to pursue English Premier League leaders Arsenal by beating Aston Villa 3-1 in a week 23 match Sunday.

The hosts enjoyed a good start with a goal by Rodri in the fourth minute at Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan scored Man City’s second goal in the 39th minute and his teammate Riyad Mahrez made it 3-0 with a penalty goal in the 46th minute just before the end of the first half.

Aston Villa's only goal came from Ollie Watkins in the 61st minute.

Following the match, Gundogan, who is of Turkish origin, shared his thoughts on his official Twitter account.

He admitted that the win was important but said his thoughts are still with all the people affected by the horrible earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria and with all those trying to save those trapped under the ruins, adding that he is heartbroken.

Man City, the reigning Premier League champions, reduced their point difference with the Gunners, which have 51 points, to 3 and are ready to face them in the next match.

At least 29,605 people were killed by two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye, the country's disaster agency said Sunday.

Last Monday’s magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

In Syria, at least 3,574 people were killed and thousands of others injured in the northern provinces of Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Raqqa, according to government sources and rescue officials in opposition-held areas.