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6 hours ago
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The margins were always likely to be tight. In the event, with so much on the line, namely the possible destination of the Premier League title, they were excruciatingly so. It was a day when the division’s heavyweights went toe-to-toe and served up a thriller, a contest to absorb the nation and many more around the world; to wildly exceed expectations.
When it was over, it was Manchester City who had landed what could prove to be the telling blow. Because once they are ahead on the count in these kind of situations everybody knows how it tends to end. There is no better finisher than Pep Guardiola and the momentum is now with him. A seventh championship in 10 seasons is within the City manager’s grasp.
The game turned around the hour mark. Mikel Arteta had promised that his Arsenal team would come to play, to fight for the win. No half measures, no parking the bus. They played. It could have turned out differently if Eberechi Eze’s whipped shot from the edge of the box had been better placed by six inches. Instead it struck the inside of a post, rolled in front of the line and was cleared.
Minutes later, City went up to the other end to score the winning goal. It was a flowing move, started by Gianluigi Donnarumma in which Nico O’Reilly swapped passes with Jérémy Doku before crossing for Rodri. Arsenal’s defenders were drawn towards the City midfielder and nobody was tight enough to Erling Haaland when the ball broke. Which was a problem. Haaland swept home and City were on their way to cutting Arsenal’s lead at the top to three points. City have one game in hand.
It was not over. Not by a long way. Arsenal will tell themselves the same thing with regard to the title race. Certainly, there was hope for them in how they performed here. It was as if the inhibitions of recent weeks had been cast aside.
Gabriel Magalhães sent a deflected header against a post in the 73rd minute and, deep into stoppage time, following a driven cross by the Arsenal substitute, Leandro Trossard, there was Kai Havertz, unmarked in front of goal. He headed fractionally too high. City could exhale and then they could celebrate.
It was the kind of game in which the intrigue was everywhere, very much in keeping with the overall spectacle – the lashings of event glamour, the little quirks, too; the meme‑able content. Such as the guy at the makeshift stall outside the ground selling water or, as he would have it, Arsenal tears. Only £2 a bottle, with the emphasis on bottle. Etc and so on.
The individual duels pulsed. Take Haaland versus Gabriel, which was relentlessly physical, the possibility ever-present that it could escalate into something that crossed the line. There was the moment in the second half when Gabriel grappled so hard with Haaland that he ripped his shirt. Then, in the 84th minute, when the pair went forehead-to-forehead after yet another tussle, Gabriel made an aggressive movement towards Haaland with his head.
Gabriel did not draw it back first, which was a part of the reason why he only got a yellow card. What unquestionably helped him, too, was that Haaland did not go down. Credit to Haaland for this. Guardiola made it plain on the touchline that he felt it had to be a red card for Gabriel. Haaland was also booked, which was rough justice.
A blistering game had a blistering start with Rayan Cherki putting City ahead with a beautiful goal, a slicing run around Gabriel and inside Declan Rice before an ice-cool finish. Cherki’s work in such a congested space was breathtaking.
Arsenal’s instant equaliser was a calamity for Donnarumma. At the start of the game, the Arsenal goalkeeper, David Raya, had almost been caught with the ball at his feet by a charging Haaland. Raya got away with that one. In a similar situation, Donnarumma did not. Collecting possession to the right of his goal, flush to the byline, his touch was a little heavy and Havertz was on him. The successful tackle turned into a shot that flew home.
Guardiola had predicted that Arteta would adjust something in terms of his approach and so it proved. The Arsenal manager’s major decision was Havertz in as the No 9, Viktor Gyökeres among the substitutes and the pre-match boost was provided by Martin Ødegaard’s return to fitness and the lineup. It meant Eze on the left wing and a greater emphasis on technique; the ability to retain possession. To carry the fight in open play.
Cherki had hit the inside of a post on four minutes with a shot that deflected off Gabriel and it was City’s first half in terms of chances created. Arsenal were indebted to Piero Hincapié for a block that denied Antoine Semenyo after a Cherki incision.
City pressed on to the front foot when the second half restarted. Haaland swiped a shot against the outside of a post after a corner while Semenyo took a heavy touch as a one-on-one beckoned with Raya and Doku worked the goalkeeper.
Back came Arsenal. The paucity of their recent attacking performances was forgotten. The adrenaline surged. Eze and Ødegaard worked a fabulous opening for Havertz on the counter only for Donnarumma to deny him with a one-on-one save. Then Eze, out of very little, dropped his shoulder and was denied by the upright.
Arteta howled at the officials on more than one occasion, arguing that key decisions went against his team. Haaland was decisive.
