Arsenal fired a title race statement with Man City’s win to move within six points of the Premier League summit.
Arsenal (1.28) put Manchester City to the sword in a 5-1 win on Sunday to move within six points of Premier League leaders Liverpool, having played one game more than the Reds. The Emirates Stadium was buzzing with anticipation for City’s visit following September’s heated 2-2 draw at the Etihad and the clash didn’t disappoint.
The Gunners fired themselves nine points clear of the champions, who were replaced by Chelsea (2.19) in fourth place after the Blues beat West Ham United 2-1 on Monday night.
Gunners Hand City Humbling Defeat
Captain Martin Odegaard gave the Gunners the lead inside two minutes after Kai Havertz picked Mauel Akanji’s pocket just outside Manchester City’s box before laying off to Odegaard to finish.
The lead was wiped out early in the second half as Savinho clipped a ball to the back-post, allowing Erling Haaland to rise above William Saliba and nod home 10 minutes into the second half.
City were level for all of 105 seconds before Thomas Partey’s deflected shot wrong-footed Stefan Ortega to put the home side back in the lead. Arsenal extended their lead shortly after the hour mark thanks to a mazy run by Myles Lewis-Skelly. The North Londoners were already in dreamland by the time Havertz added their fourth before 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri sealed a five-star performance with a fifth in injury time.
Arteta’s Gunners Get Their Revenge
Arsenal have been on the wrong end of results against Manchester City (2.30) in recent memory with just one win in their previous ten league encounters before the weekend triumph – their only other league victory coming in last season’s 1-0 win at home. Their recent struggles against City made Sunday’s 5-1 hammering that much sweeter.
It’s the first time since December 2018, when Unai Emery was head coach, that the Gunners have gone unbeaten for 14 consecutive Premier League games which they achieved. Sunday’s defeat means City conceded four or more goals in a game for the fourth time this season – the most in a single campaign in Pep Guardiola’s career.
Mikel ‘Mind-Blown’ by Arsenal’s 5-1 Demolition of the Champions
The Arsenal boss was a very happy man at full-time after what he described as a “massive” result. Arteta praised his players saying, “The performance, the manner that we’ve done it; happy, really proud of the players. Proud, again, of the atmosphere that we created in the stadium – it was mind-blowing. So, a good day to remember.”
Guardiola Left Searching for Answers After Emirates Collapse
“It’s happened all season, we are giving away too many things, we are aware this cannot happen, it happened,” said Guardiola after the defeat. The Spaniard drew a few positives from the result, commending his players’ spirit, “We reacted well and we played with personality and we defended so good and then with the ball we were a threat but unfortunately after the second happened, again many times we had the momentum.”
New Signings Could Solve City’s Problems
Manchester City have looked to address this season’s issues by adding a fourth signing in the January transfer window. Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis have joined the blue half of Manchester for a combined fee of £130m. City sealed a £50m deadline day move for FC Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez as Guardiola looks to fill the void left by Rodri’s absence.
What’s Next for Arsenal and Manchester City?
After their Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Newcastle United in the wake of the City win, Arsenal next face Leicester in the Premier League on 15 February. Man City meanwhile, face a trip to Leyton Orient in the fourth round of the FA Cup before a mammoth Champions League playoff tie against Real Madrid next week.
