Manchester City took a huge step towards this year’s Premier League title with a 4-1 victory over table-topping Arsenal. City are now only two points behind Arsenal, and have the league title in their own hands as the team has played two games less than the London club.
The summit was a one-sided affair as City stars Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland were totally dominant.
City started the match strongly and immediately took command. Six minutes into the match, Norwegian Erling Haaland received a long pass, and played the ball on to Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne. The midfield engine fired the ball behind Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
In the first half, John Stones headed in 2-0 from a free kick by de Bruyne.
About ten minutes after the break, Haaland and De Bruyne struck again. Haaland ran away with the ball, passed to de Bruyne who could score his second goal of the night.
Rob Holding scored Arsenal’s only goal late in the game, but City and Haaland had the final say. The Norwegian star scored City’s fourth goal in added time.
Erling Haaland is the Premier League’s top scorer.
Bild: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock/All Over Press
Erling Braut Håland
Pep Guardiola happy with the effort
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was pleased with the victory, stating that his side had once again proved that they deliver victories when they have to.
– We cannot lose focus now. We have everything in our own hands, said Guardiola.
– These next three games will determine if we can do what we want to do. The reality is we are still behind Arsenal. It won’t be easy for us, but we’ll take it game by game and we’ll see what happens,” Guardiola commented on the BBC website.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he believes his side will need to win all five of their remaining games to have a chance of their first title since 2004. Arsenal, who finished fifth last season, had an eight-point lead at the start of the month.
But three consecutive draws against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton meant the game against City could have been a title decider.
– We knew we would need our best as a team. We were far from that, said Arteta, who worked as Guardiola’s assistant coach at City from 2016 to 2019.
But the Spaniard expressed his pride in the team’s performances this season, pointing out that as a whole they have far exceeded expectations.
– We have to look at the whole. The fact that we are competing on an even level with this City team is incredible. There are five games left and anything can happen. Over the years I have seen that a lot can happen in this league. We have to accept that tonight we lost against an exceptional team.
The victory was Manchester City’s seventh in a row. The team is also fighting for the Champions League trophy this season.
Arsenal, who now already played their fourth league game in a row without a win. The slump in form has come at the worst possible moment of the season.
Arsenal are now only two points ahead of City in the table. Arsenal have five games left to play, while City still have seven games to play. City can move up to the top of the table on Sunday when the team plays away to Fulham.
