Manchester City expectedly came out victors of the title deciding game between themselves and Arsenal following their 4-1 win over the Gunners on Wednesday at the Etihad stadium.
City’s intentions were clear as soon as the game kicked off! Kevin De Bruyne seemed to have been brought down by Granit Xhaka inside the box in the 2nd minute, but the first blow for Arsenal came in the 7th minute when the Belgian after being fed by Erling Haaland glided through four Arsenal defenders before beating Aaron Ramsdale from the bottom right corner.
Haaland had again sent through De Bruyne in the 25th minute, but despite both Ben White and Gabriel being sent into some dancing lessons by the Belgian, White was able to block the midfielder’s shot. But still, City were just starting and Arsenal were merely surviving! Haaland using his left foot drew a shot from Ramsdale in the 31st minute.
From onset, it was visible Arsenal were a team devoid of confidence. Arsenal’s only chance Infront of City’s goal inside the opening 25 minutes came as a freekick, but it was headed wide by Gabriel. They had to wait until the 34th minute to get a real chance at their opponent’s goal when after a few exchanges between Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey sent his shot slightly wide.
City immediately responded to that attack with their own that involved De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, but like the Ghanaian, Haaland send his shot wide.
At this time, the Gunners were relying on City’s lack of clinicality for survival. However, the defending Champions doubled their lead just before halftime through De Bruyne’s freekick that was sent in by John Stones. The goal had been ruled out for offside, but after a VAR check, Stones was found to be onside.
Aymeric Laporte received a yellow card at the end of the first half, but Pep Guardiola’s men went into the break with a comfortable lead.
Into the second half and from some really sloppy defending, it was reading 3-0 in the 53rd minute. Again it was the former Wolfsburg midfielder! After stealing the ball from the Arsenal defender, De Bruyne passed it to Haaland, the Norwegian then returned it to the former who found little resistance in making it three. Guardiola’s team were not really troubled at all in the second half, but it is fair to say that they also had very little to report home about in that stanza.
Rob Holding pulled one back for the Gunners in the 85th minute, but it could only pass for a consolation, because Haaland was not leaving the pitch without having his name go into the score-sheet. The league’s top scorer put the final nail into Arsenal’s coffin with the fourth goal.
The result means Man City who are second in the Premier League table with 73 points are now just two points behind Arsenal. The catch though is City have two games in hand on the Gunners.
The result also means Arsenal’s chances of ending their 19-year wait for a Premier League trophy are over, literally.
