Manchester City demonstrated they remain in the Premier League title race, moving back to seven points in the table behind leaders Chelsea, by coming from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1. For Arsène Wenger’s side, it was a worrying sign of their weakness under sustained pressure.
Arsenal were so in control in the first half, taking the lead through Theo Walcott, but they folded in the second half, shipping goals to Leroy Sané and Raheem Sterling, raising question marks about their mental strength coming days after their collapse at Everton. Mesut Özil was particularly subdued.
If the doubts continue to gather around Arsenal and Wenger, this game was testament to Pep Guardiola’s ability to influence proceedings. He tweaked his attack at the break, moving Sterling to the right, pushing Kevin De Bruyne up top and City were transformed as they totally dominated.
This was actually a strange occasion, with penguins playing football in an enclosure outside, City emerging wearing No 8 Ilkay Gundogan shirts in tribute to their injured midfielder and the surreal sight of the usually surefooted Guardiola slipping over after 25 minutes. Less of a surprise was a reminder of Guardiola’s acumen as a manager, yet he still has issues to address in the transfer market.
Also less of a surprise was City’s defensive flaws being exposed after four minutes. A back four comprising a trio of 31 year olds, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov and Gaël Clichy, along with the 28-year-old Nicolás Otamendi, was immediately vulnerable to Arsenal’s clever, fleet movement. Wenger has tried to mix up Arsenal’s attacking, and they counter-attacked quickly in the fifth minute.
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Lacking the shielding presence of the suspended Fernandinho, City’s ageing back-four, never the most robust of units, was even more exposed. City’s failure to react came in all departments from front to back, such a contrast to their commanding performance after the break. Petr Cech delivered the ball to Héctor Bellerín, who embarked upfield completely unchecked. The danger grew but still City did not react.
Advancing into space, Bellerín clipped the ball low and hard towards Alexis Sánchez, who had stepped back into the hole. His control was instant. He shifted slightly to the right, dragging Arsenal’s attention across, took two more touches before striking a reverse pass between Otamendi and Zabaleta. Otamendi’s reactions were particularly poor. He was completely caught out by Walcott’s movement. The England international took the ball in his stride, ignored the sliding Zabaleta, and then angled it past Claudio Bravo.
Arsenal were playing with such intelligence and discipline for 45 minutes, Özil dropping deep to help his defence, and even Sánchez tracking back. City pressed for an equaliser. Sterling, assuming the centre forward role with Sergio Agüero finishing his suspension, headed De Bruyne’s cross wide.
Alex Iwobi was beginning to trouble Zabaleta, who was replaced by Bacary Sagna at the break. City enjoyed plenty of possession but could not find the finishing touch until Sané equalised early in the second period. De Bruyne fired over. Gabriel’s clearance cannoned into Bellerin, bounced back but Cech held the ball athletically. De Bruyne was pulled over by Bellerín but City’s penalty appeals were muted.
Arsenal could have added a second but Granit Xhaka headed wide Nacho Monreal’s cross. Arsenal then suffered a momentary concern when Sánchez took a knock to his left ankle, soaked it in water, and, stoically, managed to run the problem off. The half finished with Cech clutching Touré’s header with ease.
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Even though it was Cech and company who emerged earliest for the second half, waiting for City to arrive, it was Guardiola’s side who were sharpest. Guardiola had tweaked his formation, pulling Sterling to the right, switching Sané left and putting De Bruyne through the middle. The movement was fluid, and it was Sané breaking through the middle two minutes into the second half, running on to Silva’s pass. Sané was offside, but the officials did not notice, and the move occurred almost too quick for the human eye to detect. The German, moving at speed, managed to twist his body to collect the ball and struck it low past Cech.
City were a completely different beast to the first half, moving with far more belief and threat. Touré was far more involved in midfield, dominating Xhaka. Silva was scheming and creating. De Bruyne’s intelligence shone through. Arsenal were struggling to track him and he guided one fine pass through to Sané but Cech saved well. Arsenal’s defence was creaking under the pressure. The cameras rested briefly on the distinguished figures of David O’Leary and Pat Rice, legendary Arsenal defenders of yesteryear.
Wenger tried to set City a test and sent on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Iwobi. The momentum remained with City and Cech did well to push away a deflected shot from De Bruyne. They took a deserved lead when Sterling collected De Bruyne’s majestic ball on the right. Sterling ran at Monreal, cut inside and shot low with his left foot. The ball flew between Monreal’s legs, past Laurent Koscielny who was arriving too late, and past Cech. Silva was close by, standing in an offside position but there was no appeal from Cech.
Wenger reacted by trying to give Arsenal a focus. He withdrew the ineffectual Francis Coquelin, and sent on Olivier Giroud. Yet it remained City in the ascendency and De Bruyne almost added a third. Guardiola was freshening up his side, removing Sané for Jesús Navas. Koscielny, already booked, could have walked for an over-physical challenge on Sterling. Oxlade-Chamberlain did depart, seemingly injured, heading straight down the tunnel but tossing his shirt to the bench en route. Mohamed Elneny came into midfield and the changes continued when Kelechi Iheanacho replaced the outstanding De Bruyne. And the roar from the City fans at the final whistle was deafening.
