There was no surprise in the Arsenal vs Man City match, the more appreciated team, the Blue Man, won 3-1. Let’s take a look at the highlights after this match ended.
Arsenal defense made too many mistakes
Legendary Arsenal duo Tony Adams and Emmanuel Petit both feared mistakes from defenders would cause the Gunners to lose to Man City, and it turned out to be true. The back line of the home team did not complete the task, they let the Green Man score 3 goals after only 6 shots on target. All three of Arsenal’s goals were at fault from individuals.
In the first goal, Takehiro Tomiyasu assisted Kevin de Bruyne to score. Accordingly, his situation of releasing the ball to goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was too young, allowing Man City’s number 17 to accelerate to receive the ball, before putting the ball past the English goalkeeper’s reach.
To the second goal, Gabriel Magalhaes failed to pass right in front of the home team’s penalty area, Erling Haaland received the ball from his teammates, he did not finish but switched to Gundogan. The German midfielder then released the ball within range for Jack Grealish to make a decisive kick that made Aaron Ramsdale unstoppable.
In the final minutes, Arsenal’s massive defense let Gundogan, De Bruyne and Haaland make a triangle, before Ramsdale was defeated for the third time.
Man City’s attack spoke at the right time
At the most important moments, Man City’s attacking stars have shown their worth. The first was De Bruyne, who opened the scoring for the visitors after taking advantage of Takehiro Tomiyasu’s mistake. According to statistics, Kevin De Bruyne has scored 6 goals against Arsenal, the most against any opponent in his career.
When the score was 1-1, Jack Gealish was the one to give Green Man a 2-1 lead after a decisive shot in the penalty area. Grealish has scored once and provided no assist in eight Premier League appearances this season before the World Cup break, but he has two goals and three assists in nine appearances since the tournament in Qatar. The last 4 times Jack Grealish has been involved in goals for Man City have taken place against the Big Six teams: Assist against Chelsea, score against MU, assist against Arsenal and score against Arsenal.
8 minutes before the end of the match, De Bruyne made Erling Haaland make the score 3-1. This is the sixth time De Bruyne has assisted the Norwegian striker to score in the 2022/23 Premier League. Haaland has scored 26 Premier League goals this season, the most in a single season by a Manchester City player, equaling Sergio Aguero’s tally in 2014/15.
Man City takes Arsenal’s top spot
Before the match at the Emirates Stadium took place, Man City ranked 2nd in the table, 3 points behind the top team Arsenal. If they win, the Blue Man will climb to the top, because they have a better difference. And Pep Guardiola’s teachers and students have successfully completed the task. With a reasonable play and the ability to take advantage of better opportunities, the away team won 3-1.
Thus, both Man City and Arsenal have 51 points, but the Green Man ranks above thanks to more than the sub-index. Although still kicking 1 more game than the Gunners, the blue half of Manchester shows that they are still the No. 1 candidate for the Premier League title this season. Remember that the second leg between the two teams takes place at Etihad Stadium, the ability of Man City to win is extremely high.
Man City set a record, Arteta lost to Pep again
Man City shot on target 6 times against Arsenal, and 50% of those were converted into goals. That shows how well the visitors’ ability to take advantage of opportunities. Green Man’s defense also makes fewer mistakes than the home team’s defenders. With what was shown, the away team deserved to win with a score of 3-1.
With this result, Man City set a record when becoming the first club to beat Arsenal in 7 consecutive matches in all competitions. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola also confirmed his talent and experience in the confrontations with Mikel Arteta. Specifically, Pep has faced Mikel Arteta 6 times in the Premier League since his assistant left to become Arsenal manager, Pep’s win rate is 100%.
