That’s it for today’s blog. Barney Ronay’s match report is here, and you can follow Man Utd v Newcastle with John Brewin. Goodnight!
Here’s Raheem Sterling
“We moved the ball well early on and kept the pressure on. Riyad was really aggressive in the first five minutes. They’re a good team, you could see that, but we kept our composure and ground a result out.
“Every time I score a headed goal there’s an extra buzz, and I was really pleased with that one. I got up really well.
“The centre-halves have a really great understanding and you can see there’s a bond there; it’s the same when Aymeric plays. We had a difficult start to the season but it’s a credit to the team that we started to dig results out when it really mattered.”
One more game, and then you can go to bed
Full time: Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
Peep peep! Manchester City move 10 points clear - and make it 18 straight wins in all competitions - with one of the more comfortable 1-0 wins you will ever see. Raheem Sterling scored in the second minute and City controlled the game throughout. While they were sloppy in attack at times, particularly in the second half, their marvellous defence didn’t give Arsenal a sniff. They’re slightly different in style to the 2017-19 vintage, but they are just as scary.
90+2 min Leno’s long free-kick is headed away with authority by Stones. On current form he surely has to start for England at the Euros.
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90+1 min Four minutes of added time. City are in complete control.
90 min Jesus goes on a one-man counter-attack, beating a couple of players before belting a shot into orbit from 20 yards.
89 min At no stage in the match have Arsenal been able to put City under sustained pressure. Dias and Stones look so good together.
88 min “I was once asked to cover on the kettle drums in the school orchestra,” says Bill Hargreaves. “I was a percussion substitute. Boom-tish.”
87 min Bellerin is booked for clattering Jesus.
87 min Tierney pokes a promising pass towards Lacazette, but he is swiftly dispossessed by Dias just inside the area. Lovely defending.
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86 min Another Arsenal change, their fourth because of the concussion substitute: Dani Ceballos is on for Mohamed Elneny.
84 min “I said Champions League,” says Andy. “What has 18th game got to do with the point I made. You’re being wilfully obtuse I feel.”
For what it’s worth I don’t think they’ll win the Champions League either. I just thought you were being ever so slightly negative given they are about to win their 18th game in a row.
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82 min Holding gets to his feet, but he’s not going to continue. The way he is flexing his mouth suggests Cancelo caught him in the jaw. David Luiz is going to replace him as a concussion substitute.
81 min Holding is now receiving treatment, and Cancelo goes over to see if he’s okay. It was a complete accident: Cancelo tried to hurdle a sliding tackle from Holding and caught him in the process.
80 min Joao Cancelo misses an excellent chance, flicking just wide with the outside of the foot after dummying Pablo Mari majestically in the area. I was a bit surprised that play was allowed to continue, because moments earlier Cancelo had accidentally clattered the sliding Holding in the head.
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79 min “Well this is definitely Champions League failing form,” says Andy. “Another storming Pep season, being set up as favourites, only to be dumped out of Europe again. The pattern is set once more.”
You do realise they’re about to win their 18th consecutive game.
77 min Aubameyang’s neat volleyed cross is controlled on the stretch by Saka, facing away from goal, but then he slips and that allows Fernandinho to make an important interception.
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76 min City have been sloppy in the second half, though at the moment it doesn’t look like it will cost them. They have kept the Arsenal attack at arm’s length throughout the game.
74 min A double substitution for Arsenal. Alexandre Lacazette and Emile Smith Rowe come on for Pepe and Odegaard, who both had quiet games.
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73 min What a strange incident. Joao Cancelo tried a fancy crossfield pass with the outside of the foot and mishit it high in the air towards Ederson. He could almost certainly have picked it up but tried a flashy volleyed clearance of his own, which he sliced towards Elneny 25 yards out. He drove the ball a few yards wide. If that had gone in, Pep Guardiola would have been apoplexy personified.
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72 min After a good Arsenal move, Bellerin’s deflected cross is poked away by Fernandinho. He’s had a terrific game, the 94-year-old.
70 min Ederson’s long pass is miscontrolled by Holding, back towards his own goal, and Leno has to charge from his line to beat Sterling to the loose ball. Good goalkeeping.
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69 min Nothing much is happening. City are in control but have lacked urgency in attack in the last five or ten minutes.
66 min Arsenal can’t lay a glove on City. Aubameyang has been very quiet, although he hasn’t had much service.
64 min Joao Cancelo is booked for clattering Tierney as they jumped for a high ball.
63 min A change for City: Gabriel Jesus replaces Kevin De Bruyne, who is presumably being eased back into action after injury. He did some glorious things, as he always does.
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62 min Arsenal are still hanging in there, despite being emphatically outplayed for most of the game. While it’s 1-0, anything’s possible.
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58 min Fernandinho drives a classy pass over the top to Cancelo, whose half-volleyed cross is too close to Leno. This is a good spell for City.
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57 min The corner is cleared to the edge of the area, where De Bruyne smashes a volley over the bar. As he charged towards the ball I really thought we were about to see another De Bruyne screamer.
57 min: Good save from Leno! Sterling has a shot blocked, with the ball rebounding to Gundogan in the D. He tries to place a shot into the far corner, and Leno springs to his left to push it away.
55 min De Bruyne slices Arsenal apart with a stunning through pass to Gundogan on the left of the area. He tries to drag the ball back inside the sliding Holding but mistimes it and it rolls out of play.
52 min The lively Saka cuts inside and hits a shot that is blocked by Stones. City break and Xhaka is booked for a foul on Sterling.
51 min Bernardo Silva is booked for a cynical foul on Saka.
50 min At the other end, Pepe has a shot from the edge of the area blocked by Dias.
49 min Sterling tries to run Holding, who makes an excellent sliding tackle. He had to get that right or it would have been a penalty.
48 min Sterling lifts the ball infield to Zinchenko, who heads it into space and hares down the left. He moves into the area and lays the ball back to De Bruyne, who curls a left-footed chip just wide of the far post. That was almost a delicious goal.
47 min Sterling gets to the byline and lays the ball back to Zinchenko, who blasts over from a tight angle.
47 min “Excellent,” says Charles Antaki. “If Arsenal can keep it to something like this score, they will come away with a moral victory as resounding as it will be ineffective in vulgar league points.”
46 min Peep peep! Arsenal begin the second half.
Half-time reading
Half time: Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
Peep peep! City lead through Raheem Sterling’s second-minute goal. For half an hour they threatened to overwhelm Arsenal, with Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan missing good chances, but the contest was much more even as half-time approached.
45 min One minute of added time.
44 min Bellerin wins a header on the right and finds Pepe. He tries to slide the ball back infield to Bellerin, who is lining up a shot when Gundogan nicks the ball of his toes. It runs back to Pepe, who drags a tame shot into the side netting. That was another promising move from Arsenal, who have been much better in the last 10-15 minutes.
41 min Another Tierney cross is booted behind by Fernandinho. Odegaard’s corner is headed on at the near post by Xhaka and headed away by a City defender. No, no idea.
39 min Saka plays in the overlapping Tierney, whose cross is cleared at the near post by Stones. Those two, Saka and Tierney, are such fun to watch.
36 min Tierney’s cross is miscontrolled by the stretching Odegaard beyond the far post. Arsenal have had a little bit of joy down their left through Tierney and Saka. On the other side, Pepe has hardly touched the ball.
34 min: Chance for City Holding makes a vital block from Gundogan, who was put through by Fernandinho. Gundogan’s first touch wasn’t the best, which allowed Holding to get across and block the shot.
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32 min This City side remind me more and more of Spain in 2012 - not quite as expansive or entertaining as previous versions, but with a crushing superiority that breaks the will of their opponents.
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30 min Xhaka waves a lovely outside-of-the-foot pass to Tierney, who charges into space and hits a vicious rising drive that is saved almost nonchalantly by Ederson. It was a beautiful strike from Tierney.
29 min Bellerin tries to play the ball down the line, mistimes his foot movement and kicks the ball straight out of play.
27 min Mahrez charges menacingly at Tierney, cuts inside and slides a low shot that is blocked by Pablo Mari.
27 min Tierney curls an excellent pass down the left to Saka. He moves infield and tries to find Pepe on the right of the area, but Fernandinho makes a good interception.
26 min City have had 70 per cent of the possession. It actually feels like they’ve had more.
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23 min Cancelo gets round the back and rolls the ball invitingly across the six-yard box. There were no City players in there.
23 min The match is still painfully one-sided, but Arsenal will take some comfort from the fact that City are no longer creating a clear chance every two or three minutes.
19 min “Hi Rob,” says Ian Copestake. “Is Bellerin anything other than a good-looking man?”
Are any of us?
18 min Saka plays a one-two with Tierney and hits a crisp right-footed shot that is blocked by Aubameyang in the six-yard box. I’m pretty sure it was going wide.
14 min A much needed quiet spell for Arsenal, though they are still struggling to keep the ball.
11 min Arsenal need to keep this at 1-0 for as long as possible and hope the mood ofthe match starts to change. If City get a second goal soon they could run riot.
9 min City’s formation is fascinating. De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva are going where they like, so the two Arsenal centre-backs have nobody to mark. It’s a bit like a diamond midfield with two wingers.
8 min Arsenal are being overwhelmed. Mahrez turns Pablo Mari inside out and hits a shot that deflects wide off Tierney. City could already be 4-0 up.
6 min: Leno saves from Sterling! De Bruyne’s pass from the right finds its way through to Sterling on the edge of the area. He moves in on goal, twists back inside the sliding Bellerin but is then tackled by Holding. The ball runs loose and Sterling’s poked shot is smothered by Leno. The first chance was the best one; Sterling could have shot when he turned away from Bellerin.
5 min City are so relaxed in possession. This already looks pretty ominous for Arsenal.
3 min City have started with Bernardo Silva as a false nine and De Bruyne in midfield.
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That was so easy. Mahrez killed a long pass from Dias with that beautiful first touch of his. Then he teased Tierney and floated a simple cross to the far post, where Sterling got between Bellerin and Holding and headed in from six yards.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Man City (Sterling 2)
Raheem Sterling scores inside 90 seconds!
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1 min Mahrez’s cross skims off the head of Holding and reaches Sterling, who muffs an attempted volley with his left foot. That was half a chance.
1 min Peep peep! City, wearing their white third strip, kick off from right to left.
“Hard to know where this one rates on the Arsenal Bad-Feeling-About-This-One-ometer,” says Charles Antaki. “Usually this last year or so it hovers around 50 per cent for games against mid-table sides, drops to single figures in the early Europa League stages, and climbs up again when faced with any half-decent opposition. So for Man. City it’s, what, 95%, or Man Utd 8-2 territory?”
Leicester have won 2-1 at Aston Villa to put a little bit of pressure on Manchester City. They are now seven points clear with today’s game in hand.
Pre-match reading
Some interesting decisions from both managers. Mikel Arteta has chosen Rob Holding and Pablo Mari at centre-back, with Gabriel and David Luiz on the bench. Nicolas Pepe is also in for Emile Smith Rowe.
Pep Guardiola prefers Fernandinho to Rodri, and it looks like Kevin De Bruyne will play as a false nine. Goal machine Ilkay Gundogan is also back from injury.
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Team news
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Leno; Bellerin, Holding, Pablo Mari, Tierney; Elneny, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Pepe; Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Ryan, Gabriel, Cedric, David Luiz, Ceballos, Smith Rowe, Lacazette, Willian, Martinelli.
Manchester City (4-3-3) Ederson; Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko; Silva, Fernandinho, Gundogan; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling.
Substitutes: Steffen, Walker, Laporte, Mendy, Rodri, Foden, Jesus, Aguero, Torres.
Referee Jon Moss.
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Preamble
Southampton, Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea, Manchester United, Birmingham, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Cheltenham, West Brom, Sheffield United, Burnley, Liverpool, Swansea, Spurs, Everton. Seventeen teams have failed to resist the force of Manchester City, who are on an unprecedented winning run. Now Arsenal, who were tonked 4-1 in the Carabao Cup before Christmas, have a second chance.
Mikel Arteta’s side were at rock bottom after that City defeat, but a joyously unexpected 3-1 win over Chelsea four days later kickstarted their season. A similar result at Stamford Bridge a week later was the first big sign that, after a sluggish start to the season, Manchester City might be back to their best. Subsequent results have not disabused us of this notion. They are going to win the league; the only question is how many cups they’ll win to go with it.
Kick off 4.30pm.
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