Two goals from Gabriel Jesus and one each from Rodri and Riyad Mahrez lifted City above Leicester and within eight points of leaders Liverpool.

It was a morale-boosting win after the weekend draw with Newcastle and an emphatic performance.

"We needed that victory for the team," said Rodri. After the match we were like having a party because we needed this victory," he told Amazon Prime Video.

When asked if City can still be crowned champions, he said: "Until the maths say another thing we have all the chance of winning the Premier League. We will fight until the end.

"We don't see the best version of Manchester City until now."

Guardiola played down talk of poor performances despite a marked improvement against Burnley.

"We played well, we were good," the Spaniard said.

"Our level was good in most of the games. I don't have the feeling that we played bad in every single game.

"The level we played in Newcastle was good as well but in general with the level of the team, I'm satisfied."

The only blot on City's performance was the consolation goal from Robbie Brady, which denied a first clean sheet in eight games, but it didn't matter much in the big scheme of things.

At Selhurst Park, Jeffrey Schlupp's strike 14 minutes from time helped Crystal Palace's 10 men earn a 1-0 win over Bournemouth that saw them soar to fifth on the table.

Roy Hodgson's side played 71 minutes with a numerical disadvantage after Mamadou Sakho was sent off for a rash tackle, but their makeshift back four produced a dogged display to make it back-to-back victories.

Eddie Howe saw Bournemouth's poor run of form continue, with the Cherries struggling to create chances throughout at Selhurst Park and they are now on a run of four straight defeats.

Palace enjoyed the lion's share of possession without creating many chances when their fortunes took a turn for the worse after 19 minutes.

Sakho - on his second league start of the season - recklessly slid in on Adam Smith and caught the Cherries full-back high on the knee, which saw referee Anthony Taylor pull out a red card despite the defender initially getting the ball.

Palace survived until the break and then Schlupp rifled a shot past Aaron Ramsdale from 12 yards out in the 76th minute.

The Palace fans erupted after the former Leicester ace scored for the second consecutive match.

"It was a great victory," Palace manager Roy Hodgson told the BBC.

"Normally when you win 1-0 with 10 men you think you were lucky, but that wasn't really the case and we had a few chances of our own so I'm delighted for the players."

In Wednesday's matches, Liverpool host Everton, Leicester face Watford, Aston Villa are at Chelsea, Manchester United take on Tottenham, Norwich visit Southampton and West Ham are at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Australian Associated Press