Manchester City took another big step towards the Premier League title by beating Chelsea at the Etihad.

Bernardo Silva was the hero for Pep Guardiola's side, turning home namesake David's cross within a minute of the restart.

It means City now need just four more wins to be crowned Premier League champions.

The side who they will dethrone never really threatened and a particularly defensive approach from Antonio Conte failed to pay off.

Chelsea now have a mountain to climb in their quest to make the top four and end the weekend five adrift of Spurs.

Here are five talking points from the clash.

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1. Kevin De Bruyne for POTY

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Kevin De Bruyne is the strong favourite to be win the Player of the Year awards this season for his consistently outstanding displays for Manchester City, and it is hard to see beyond the £54million Belgium star for the individual accolades, although Liverpool's Mo Salah has made a compelling case to challenge him, with 32 goals this season.

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But one other player who has been overlooked this season, just as he has done since he came to the Premier League eight years ago, is David Silva, who produced another exquisite performance against Chelsea, setting up the opener for namesake Bernardo Silva and being the hub of City's creative approach, as he has been so often.

His level of performance this season is all the more impressive given it has come against the premature birth of his first child, a son, which has required frequent trips back to Spain to be with his family, which has required immense courage and mental fortitude If ever Silva deserves to be named PFA Player of the Year and Footballer of the Year, it is surely this of all years.

2. Aguero's double century wait continues

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(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Sergio Aguero was kept waiting for his landmark 200 goal for Manchester City. The Argentina striker, who has already become City'a all-time leading goalscorer, had the ball in the net in the first-half, but the effort was correctly ruled out for offside.

Aguero has scored at a remarkable rate for City, getting to one short of a double century in 290 appearances for City, his 30 goals already this season proof of his enduring value to City, even if boss Pep Guardiola is not ostensibly a coach who has traditionally embraced out-and-out strikers like the 29-year-old.

Much has been made of Aguero's potential departure this summer, with Gabriel Jesus waiting to take his place But Aguero has show this season that he is still vital to City, stepping up to the plate when Jesus was injured, scoring the goals to keep Guardiola's side on track in the Premier League, Champions Leagie and EFL Cup, even if he didn't find the net here.

3. Cautious Conte

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Antonio Conte hinted at a cautious approach by Chelsea ahead of their trip to City, where they won 3-1 last season. “The most important thing is to have a tactical plan offensively and defensively,” said Conte. “We must have great balance, [otherwise] you risk losing in a bad way.”

But Conte's players took the cautious approach to another level, with the hosts enjoying 78 per cent of possession in the first-half, as they allowed City to dictate the game, unlike on their previous visit to Manchester a week earlier, when they dominated the first-half against United, before losing 2-1.

Here, however, Chelsea were utterly devoid of ambition, set up to thwart City and potentially hit them on the counter-attack with the pace of Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro, a plan that ultimately failed.

4. Morata pays the price

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Alvaro Morata paid the price for his ineffective display in Cheslea's 2-1 defeat to United last weekend by dropping to the bench at the Etihad.

The decision showed Conte's lack of faith and trust in the £60million striker, with the Chelsea boss opting for Hazard to lead his attack. Morata has endured a tough first season in England, with just 13 goals in 35 appearances for Chelsea since his much-heralded arrival from Real Madrid last summer.

But his case was aided by Hazard being isolated for much of the game, unable to exert any influence with long balls soaring over the top of him as Chelsea sought to ease the pressure on them from City's relentless probing, although it was telling it was Olivier Giroud who came on first as Chelsea searched for an equaliser, Morata only being introduced with one minute left.

5. Guardiola gets his own back

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Last season, Conte became the first manager to do a top-flight league double over Guardiola in a single season.

But the tables have turned this season, with Guardiola becoming only the second manager to inflict a league double on the under-fire Italian, who is likely to leave Chelsea this summer, with the Blues facing the prospect of missing out on qualification for the Champions League for only the second time in 16 years.

Chelsea, who slumped to a fourth Premier League defeat in five games, failed to register a single shot in the first-half – the first time they have failed to do so in the Premier League since Opta started recording such data in 2003-04, a miserable stat which sums up their current plight.