Phil Foden has struck twice, as Manchester City stepped up their bid for a fourth English Premier League crown in a row, with a ruthless 4-0 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion.
A day after Liverpool's title challenge suffered a huge blow with a 2-0 defeat at Everton, City kept up the pressure on leaders Arsenal, with a dominant display that left them one point behind the London club with a game in hand.
"I don't know if it was statement," City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne told Sky Sports UK. "Obviously, every game is a lot of pressure, but the only thing we can do is try to perform as well as we did today."
De Bruyne's superb diving header put City - missing top scorer Erling Haaland, due to injury - ahead in the 17th minute.
"It doesn't happen too much, does it?" said De Bruyne, after netting his first headed goal in the premier league. "I think the only way I could reach it was jumping to the ball and it goes in like a little lob, but it's obviously not something I'm really good at."
Foden scored his first with a deflected free-kick, and Brighton defensive errors allowed Bernardo Silva to win the ball and set up Foden to sweep a shot into the bottom corner before halftime.
"With Kev's first goal and a bit lucky with my second goal, it settled us a little bit and we grew into the game," Foden said. "The first half was frightening with the way we attacked."
Foden became only the third player to score 50 top-flight goals under manager Pep Guardiola aged 23 or younger, after Lionel Messi and Haaland.
Julian Alvarez completed the rout midway through the second half and Brighton, who remained 11th in the table, never looked capable of launching a fightback.
Manchester City are unbeaten in 30 games in all competitions with 24 wins and six draws, making them the third English top-flight side to reach that landmark, after Nottingham Forest (40 in 1978) and Manchester United (34 in 1993/94 and 33 in 1998/99).
Their last loss, excluding penalty shootouts, was against Aston Villa in early December.
Brighton's best chance came when City keeper Ederson raced out of his box to gift them a late opportunity, firing the ball straight at Odeluga Offiah, who failed to take advantage.
City head to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, and close out the season with matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
Reuters
