Manchester City’s 2–1 victory over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon saw the Gunners’ lead at the Premier League’s summit trimmed to three points.
Billed as a ’title showdown’ the English top flight has seldom enjoyed in years, City knew that only three points would do the trick. A positive result for Arsenal would’ve all but confirmed their first conquest of the division since the ’Invincibles’ were around 22 years ago, but they were ultimately undone by Erling Haaland’s second-half strike.
Arsenal were not guilty of wilting on the big occasion, with Mikel Arteta’s side fighting fire with fire against a City team that smells blood and is now gunning for a seventh league title in nine seasons.
Encounters between these two can often be rather prosaic and one-note, but this was nothing of the sort. A high-quality affair was edged by the hunters, but all possible outcomes were on the table up until the very last moment.
Here are four takeaways from Sunday’s potentially decisive showdown.
Donnarumma Atones For Dreadful Mistake
Gianluigi Donnarumma held his hands up towards the South Stand in apology at the start of the second half, acknowledging the error that handed Arsenal a route back into the contest.
Plenty before the game suggested City could run amok if they struck early, and Rayan Cherki’s wonderful finish, on another day, may well have started a rout. However, barely two minutes after Cherki’s opener, Kai Havertz was wheeling away in celebration, having scored his first Premier League goal since last February in circumstances he probably didn’t envisage.
Mikel Arteta likely picked Havertz over Viktor Gyökeres for his diligence without possession, and the German’s perseverance paid off when Donnarumma’s hesitance allowed the Arsenal forward to charge down his clearance and divert the ball into the open goal.
We saw only last week an all-time great in Manuel Neuer respond emphatically from an uncharacteristic mistake in Bayern Munich’s Champions League triumph over Real Madrid, and one of this generation’s outstanding shot-stoppers followed suit in Manchester.
Not only did Donnarumma later ignite the goal-winning sequence with a proactive throw out to Nico O’Reilly, but the towering Italian also made a crucial stop to deny Havertz on the hour mark. It was the highest-quality chance of the game, and we’re probably discussing a prelude to Arsenal’s title celebrations if Donnarumma doesn’t make that save.
Man City’s Old-Timers Come to the Fore
After nine glorious years, Bernardo Silva will bid farewell to Manchester City at the end of the season, and he is desperate to add another Premier League winners’ medal to his illustrious cabinet.
The veteran was derided by City supporters not too long ago, with some believing Pep Guardiola’s unwavering faith in Silva was misguided. However, the do-it-all midfielder has caught a second wind during the run-in, benefiting from the latest Guardiola formula that’s maximized this group of players.
Arsenal’s stalwarts faltered in Manchester, but City’s purred. It was a game of cat and mouse in the middle of the park, with Arteta committing to aggressive man marking, so Rodri and Silva often functioned as deep as they could to get their foot on the ball.
City’s experienced midfield tandem are happy to dictate from any zone of the pitch, with their comfort in the face of pressure allowing the hosts to occasionally escape the well-drilled swathe of red shirts and access their array of destructive playmakers.
While Rodri boasted a joint-high 10 defensive contributions and lost just three of his 12 duels, Silva buzzed around the Etihad, liberated by Nico O’Reilly’s hybrid role and the steel he provides in central areas.
Only Marc Guéhi (81) had more touches than Rodri (77) and Silva (76) in the match, with City’s old-timers working in glorious telepathy to ensure Arsenal’s intensity seldom overwhelmed. For Silva, this may well have been the twilight equivalent to his monstrous showing during City’s memorable 2–1 victory over Liverpool in early 2019.
Gunners Turn to Alternative Playmaker
Arsenal’s creative woes have been laid bare relentlessly over the past few weeks, with Mikel Arteta’s side also failing to score from a corner or free-kick in 10 games leading into Sunday’s duel.
And there was little set-piece success for the visitors at the Etihad outstide of Gabriel’s back-post header that deflected off O’Reilly’s ribs and onto the post.
Arteta’s team selection was doubtless brave, with Martin Ødegaard starting a Premier League game for the first time since January, and Eberechi Eze utilized down the left. These are two of the division‘s leading playmakers at their best, but both were off the boil on Sunday.
Still, Arsenal outperformed their hosts on the xG front, with Arteta weaponizing his team’s capacity to suffocate the opposition as a means of chance creation. There was never a sense from the get go that they’d come here to earn a point. Arsenal were aggressive out of possession, pressing man-to-man, recording eight times as many high regains as City midway through the first half.
City’s brilliance and the numbers they committed to the build-up phase meant there were times when they broke the game open, but Arsenal, especially early on, fought fire with fire and rendered this all-important tussle a back-and-forth heavyweight duel.
Hard to Look Past Man City Now
Pep Guardiola’s side may well have been 12 points behind Arsenal entering last Sunday’s trip to Chelsea, but Bournemouth’s 2–1 win at the Emirates blew the title race wide open.
The contrasting moods in both camps over the past few weeks meant some rendered a City win here an inevitability, with the perennial Premier League champions perhaps not a vintage iteration, but suddenly performing with the ominous groove of a title-winner.
Sunday’s win means the title is now in their hands. Triumph at Burnley on Wednesday night, and City will be top of the league for the first time since August. Difficult fixtures lie ahead, and we’re supposed to believe that this City team aren’t capable of putting together one of their imperious runs that tends to decide title races.
Given their level of performance since the March international break, would you really bet against them failing to win out the campaign?
Arsenal were arguably as good as they’ve been in a while on Sunday, yet this felt like their last chance to land the decisive blow. They’re running out of steam, and 180 minutes against Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid to come in the Champions League certainly won’t help their domestic cause.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Four Takeaways As Man City Topple Arsenal in Premier League Title Showdown.
