Arsenal 1 Manchester City 3
It is threatening to become a Premier League truism. When Manchester City face Arsenal, they always win. But never in a meeting as loaded as this. City’s 11th straight victory over Arsenal in the competition carried them above their opponents on goal difference at the top of the table, although they have played an extra game. As a statement of intent about a fifth title in six years, it was red hot.
Arsenal were the better team in the first half, running on passion and adrenaline, Bukayo Saka scoring from the penalty spot to cancel out Kevin De Bruyne’s wonderful opener. At that point, you would have backed Mikel Arteta’s team to emerge from their wobble – the loss at Everton followed by the draw at home against Brentford on Saturday.
City simply raised their level. The second half would belong to them, Erling Haaland running riot, his pace and power simply too much for the Arsenal defence. He played a part in Jack Grealish’s goal for 2-1, ushering in Ilkay Gündogan who made the final pass before he rammed home the clincher after a De Bruyne pull-back.
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The symbol of City’s chutzpah? De Bruyne walking around the pitch and eyeballing the Arsenal support after his 87th-minute substitution as they threw bottles at him.
The respective siege mentalities were a major theme. Arteta had muttered darkly about the VAR aberration from the Brentford game, which allowed the equaliser against his team to stand, saying it had given everybody at the club “more desire to pass this hurdle they’ve put on us”.
Guardiola, though, could see Arteta’s dodgy refereeing decision and raise it by a hundred or so Premier League charges. The City manager has harnessed the mood of defiance and persecution.
Guardiola named a side packed with attacking midfield menace. Arteta added to the dynamic by starting Granit Xhaka as a No 8; Jorginho sat in front of the defence in the injury-enforced absence of Thomas Partey.
Arteta’s big selection call had been Takehiro Tomiyasu for Ben White at right back and it blew up midway through the first half. Tomiyasu was facing his own goal, under pressure from Grealish, when he went back to Aaron Ramsdale and got it all wrong. De Bruyne had started loosely but he read Tomiyasu’s intentions and, with Ramsdale off his line, he knew what he had to do. The first-time left-footed lob was perfection.
It was a kick in the teeth for Arsenal, who ought to have been in front by then. Jorginho intercepted a De Bruyne pass to release Eddie Nketiah, who saw his shot blocked by Rúben Dias, but the big chance came on 22 minutes when Oleksandr Zinchenko whipped over a cross from the left and Nketiah flashed a free header wide.
Haaland had nearly got around the back of Tomiyasu in the 16th minute but it was Arsenal who forced the issue, their press high and effective. Ederson would be booked for time-wasting mainly because he could not see a pass out.
By then, Tomiyasu had lifted a volley high, Saka been held up by Nathan Aké after a wonderful move and Nketiah miscontrolled following a Gabriel Martinelli flick. Arsenal bristled with energy; an equaliser was in the air.
It came when Nketiah chased a ball over the top and Ederson seemed to stop, the Arsenal striker going into him after hooking in a shot that Aké scrambled off the line. Referee Anthony Taylor penalised Ederson for the foul. Enter Saka. Ederson pointed to his right. Saka read the bluff and put the kick there. A breathless first half ended with a Rodri header flicking off Aké's heel and striking the Arsenal crossbar.
There had been the sight of Martin Ødegaard, the Arsenal captain, whipping up the crowd in the second minute; not that they needed any encouragement – the stadium was a powder keg. That came to feel like an awfully long time ago. It was fast and furious, each duel loaded with significance, the emotions churning. Ramsdale turned the other way when Saka took his penalty.
City thought they had one of their own when Haaland muscled past Gabriel Magalhães before the hour and was fouled by the defender. Taylor, under relentless pressure throughout, pointed to the spot only for the VAR, David Coote, to spot that Haaland had been offside on Kyle Walker’s ball forward.
Nketiah almost got on to a Tomiyasu cross but it was City who came to push, Rodri working Ramsdale with a header; the substitute Manuel Akanji seeing the rebound blocked. Haaland was also denied by the goalkeeper before Grealish and Haaland made their play for the headlines. Arsenal’s evening was summed up when Nketiah blew another gilt-edged header in stoppage time. – Guardian
