Arsenal unable to resist sensational Manchester City as title race is blown wide open
Written by on February 16, 2023
Arsenal choked in the biggest game in recent club history, as they gifted two goals to Manchester City in a 3-1 win for Pep Guardiola’s side that propels the Citizens to the top of the Premier League table.
All is not lost for Arsenal as they remain level on points with Manchester City and have a game in hand, but they’re now without a win in five games and desperately need to bounce back against Aston Villa.
Manchester City have been English champions four times in the last five seasons while it’s been 19 years since Arsenal lifted the Premier League, and the Gunners certainly looked like they weren’t ready for the limelight at the Emirates Stadium.
Meanwhile, Guardiola’s well-drilled team delivered a masterclass in executing a gameplan, as they defended rigidly throughout the evening and ruthlessly picked off Arsenal’s mistakes to record their biggest result of the season.
After he was benched two weeks ago against Tottenham Hotspur, Kevin de Bruyne was the star of the show and assisted Erling Haaland’s goal that killed off any hope of an Arsenal comeback.
And it was the Belgian maestro who kicked off the scoring for Manchester City when he pounced on Takehiro Tomiyasu’s weak backpass and lifted a wonderful effort over Aaron Ramsdale.
However, Arsenal grew back into the first half and scored a deserved equaliser when Ederson brought down Eddie Nketiah in his box and Bukayo Saka coolly slotted the resulting penalty.
Guardiola’s halftime team talk clearly had an effect though, his side were clearly the better team in the second half, punishing Arsenal with an aggressive press that Arsenal were unable of playing through effectively.
They nearly took the lead when Oleksandr Zinchenko – who lifted the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium in 2022, lost control of the ball and required a quick reaction from Ramsdale to deny Haaland.
Back up the other end, one of City’s only lapses of the half gave Nketiah a golden opportunity to put Arsenal in front from a low cross but he just couldn’t quite reach it.
But Manchester City couldn’t be denied, and they punished another Arsenal mistake in their own half – this time from Gabriel, to work a free shot to Jack Grealish on the left-hand side of the box who fired home and could celebrate with his side’s fans.
Haaland’s goal finished off the encounter and Arsenal still have to face Manchester City again, at the Etihad Stadium at the end of April. Advantage Citizens?
Pep Guardiola has taken full responsibility for Manchester City’s poor display in the first half at the Emirates Stadium in their win over Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The Sky Blues went in at 1-1 at half-time, but the Gunners were superior before the break and may have deserved to get something more for the first half despite losing 3-1.
“I decided something new and it was horrible,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime Video.
“Second-half we were more like we are. We let them play in the build-up, our shape, we let them play, Jorginho, [Granit] Xhaka, [Oleksandr] Zinchenko, they find the runners outside.
“We adjust a bit, Ruben [Dias] was good going more aggressive to [Martin] Odegaard, we play more and Erling [Haaland] helped us a lot, he used his power to keep the ball. In first-half they had one more man in midfield, we struggled to control.”
Hails Bernardo Silva’s performance
Guardiola was full of praise for Bernardo Silva’s versatility, as the Portuguese star featured in several positions throughout Wednesday’s game.
“Bernardo is so intelligent and doesn’t lose his temper,” Guardiola said.
“We put Bernardo in the middle, not stupid enough to put him left-back, man-to-man they have the extra player there, he is so intelligent and adapted immediately to correct everything. He started left-back and finished right-winger, few players can do that.”
Guardiola’s team won the game despite recording just 36.4 percent of possession, this being their lowest possession percentage since he arrived in the Premier League back in 2016.
