Arsenal dominated the Premier League champions at the Emirates, beating Manchester City 5-1 to maintain the pressure on Liverpool at the top of the table.
Mikel Arteta’s team took the lead within two minutes through Martin Odegaard before Erling Haaland equalized with a battered head shortly after half. The city was only level for about a minute, however, before Thomas Partery restored the advantage of Arsenal.
Since then, Arsenal had been in total control, scoring other goals thanks to their impressive great rear Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz, then an exceptional curling strike from replacement Ethan Nwaneri in additional time.
Arsenal is six points behind the leaders of the Liverpool League, who have a match in hand, while the defeat leaves City in fourth place, 15 points from the pace and the level with Newcastle United, fifth.
James McNicholas, Sam Lee and Thom Harris analyze the main discussion points…
It was Lewis-Skelly day
In September, Mikel Arteta gave Lewis-Skelly his premier beginnings during the meeting between these two teams at Etihad. It was a huge declaration of the manager’s faith in the teenager, then 17 years – especially since he had already been reserved for having urged David Raya to injure himself behind the goal of the Spaniard.
Since then, Lewis-Skelly has gone more and more forced. For this game, Arteta selected it before 42 million pounds of summer sterling sign Riccardo Calafiori. After scoring Arsenal’s third goal, cutting inside before folding the ball with its lower right foot, it will be difficult to move. The Emirates Stadium has a new hero.
He also attached himself to fans by reproducing the meditative celebration of Haaland-a reminder to a brief flash point between the Norwegian striker and Lewis-Skelly in this 2-2 at Etihad.
(Alex Pantling / Getty Images)
The emergence of Lewis-Skelly and the product of the Ethan Nwaneri Academy was one of the positive points of the Arsenal season. Nwaneri even found the time to put the icing on the cake with its second magnificent goal of the week.
James McNicholas
The cityless accumulation game of the city
With the perilous pass of Stefan Ortega in Mateo Kovacic halfway through the first half, presenting Havertz with a golden chance, City reached a dark monument in northern London. It was a 23rd error leading to an opposition shot so far in the Premier League; Even with 14 games to lose, it is more than they have been committed in each of their last 10 complete seasons. They made 24, with a pass from Capricious Phil Foden cut by Party, later in the second half, whose Arsenal midfielder marked to make 2-1 to the hosts.
The sequence was nothing that we had not seen before – a carbon copy of what Athletics described as The most dangerous pass in football In December – but Ortega fell directly into the trap. His ball was short, and Kovacic, not for the first time in the first half-time, was exhausted.
Aside from the obvious risks, City’s approach to accumulate throughout the game was rarely inventive to unravel the defensive form of Arsenal. With Matheus Nunes pushing into the role of rear, City formed a backwards with the ball, with Kovacic often the only option to progress the ball in the middle. This forced them to go widely, but vanishes nulls generally returned directly, while Savinho fought for the space on the opposite side.
This helped when City No. 10 fell in the midfield, but Omar Marmoush was loose in possession with the back to goal. When they could zip the ball to Foden, they had a hard time accelerating the pace and moving with him in the third striker, which generally means that he had to come back.
With City still so fragile in their defensive third party, errors in possession are the last thing they need. But the inability to regularly find their way through the first two lines of pressure is just as damaging for their difficulties in controlling so large games.
Thom Harris
Havertz summed up the enigma of the arsenal striker
In some respects, this performance by Kai Havertz has demonstrated the complexity of the arsenal attacker’s situation.
The biggest subject of discussion of the first half, apart from Arsenal’s first goal, was the chance to make 2-0 that Havertz pushed back.
There is no doubt that Arsenal could have a new, new number. It is remarkable that in Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal ended up with two counterters who share a common and crucial weakness: the finish.
With Jesus now sidelined, Arsenal spent a large part of January pursuing a new central center. With an attempt to sign Ollie Watkins who have apparently failed, they only have 24 hours to try to fill this position.
What is curious is that, even if Arsenal manages to win an attacker, they will find it difficult to dislodge Havertz. For all the attention on this miss, out of possession, he continues to check all the boxes that Artata wants an attacker. Its pressing and physicity bring an important structure to the team.
And yet, in the second half, when a more difficult chance occurred, it ended with APLOMB. His finish is incoherent, but so many other aspects of his play are reliable.
Everyone agrees on Arsenal needs an attacker. But can Arteta find one this month that he will value more than Havertz? It’s more difficult to say.
James McNicholas
Individual mistakes in the city and why they are where they are
There were the bones of a good performance of the city in there, given the problems they had this season, but the errors that Thom mentioned above really made all the hopes to withdraw something.
The Foden pass directly to Party in particular is the real killer of City because entering the match at 1-1, with Foden playing his role, conceding a goal so early, and so cheap, really took the wind of their sails. It is difficult to look at errors like this without taking into account the broader context of their unequal form since November: during this race, which has improved a little lately, they have invented things for them -Mere even if things are fine.
The most famous example was Feyenoord, when they were 3-0 with 15 minutes to do but attracted 3-3, which really destroyed confidence. More recently, even if the results resumed, they launched an advance of 2-0 in Brentford to draw 2-2 and a 2-0 advance at PSG to lose 4-2.
City players continue to fight, and I think we saw it on Sunday, and they continue to try to play the type of football that will bring them back to the top, but this habit of individual errors (and concede goals in rapid succession) really hinders their progress.
Today, they just continued to dig holes for themselves.
Sam Lee
How did Harland continue after his comments “stay humble” the last time?
Given his comments “Stay Humble” after the reverse match in September, Haaland brought the weight of the pride of the fans of Arsenal while the Londoners led to a comfortable victory.
Given what happened during the match, in terms of celebrations and songs, the Norwegian point has probably been very well proven, but nevertheless when you make a comment as what you have to hope that your own form is in order.
For a few months at the end of the year, with Haaland who had trouble scoring when the form of City did not take place, the backlash was difficult to complain. Here, however, he did more or less what he could. Of course, the central defenders of Arsenal have chosen his pocket several times, but he marked to give hope to City, only for those behind him to throw the hope that he had generated again.
Haaland lives and usually dies through the service he obtains and is often lacking. Today, he made the company and could only look at the mistakes of others wasted his good job.
However, arsenal fans will appreciate the fall of his city and perhaps beyond.
Sam Lee
What does Mikel Arteta say?
We will bring you this after talking at her post-match press conference.
What does Pep Guardiola say?
We will bring you this after talking at her post-match press conference.
What is the following for Arsenal?
Wednesday February 5: Newcastle United (A), Carabao Cup semi-final (second stage), 8 p.m.
What is the following for the city?
Saturday February 8: Leyton Orient (A), FA Cup Fourth Tour, 12:15 p.m.
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(Stuart MacFarlane / Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
