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Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland secured a fantastic 3-1 victory to Manchester City at Arsenal. A victory that is enough to propel Pep Guardiola’s side. Precisely, to the very top of the Premier League table at the Gunners at the expense of.
Mikel Arteta’s team are just two points clear of the top spot. That is, on goals scored and have a game in hand on their rivals. But, the well-worked goals by Grealish and Haaland within the last 20 minutes indicated a significant change in momentum. A massive switch in momentum in the race for the title.
Manchester City was ahead against the flow through the play at 24 minutes of the game. When Takehiro Tomiyasu looked to guide Ederson’s pass into Aaron Ramsdale. Also, Kevin De Bruyne got in to score a first-time goal in the goal. A perfect moment to score the first time since the end of October.
Saka scored just before the break. After Ederson was punished for a collision on Eddie Nketiah when the striker hit a shot. A shot that was removed from the goal with Nathan Ake. However, City did not let their frustration go to rest. Furthermore, took the lead to secure an undeserved victory. A comprehensive & deserving triumph that was completed in Haaland’s 27th Premier League goal of the season.
Nketiah scored the clearest opening to the game. Amazingly, when he smashed his head off the target after OleksandrZinchenko’s cross. Thus, prior to De Bruyne displayed a clinical edge that the Arsenal centre-forward was lacking.
Tomiyasu — who was a surprise selection in place of Ben White at right-back. Obviously, was blamed for his actions when he played blindly a backpass to Ramsdale. Also, allowed De Bruyne to steal in and loop a left-footed shot across his Gunners goalkeeper.
Arsenal were impressive in their response to being in the wrong direction. That is, with Ederson’s red card for time-wasting being a sign of City’s discontent. Things went downhill. Furthermore, the Brazil goalkeeper. After he was found guilty of fouling Nketiah. In addition to this, his efforts at kidology failed to match with Saka’s sharp, ice-cool accuracy.
The performance of Manchester City prior to half-time revealed the flaws. These are the flaws that have hindered their campaign to date. Their performance following the interval demonstrated the immense quality of a team. That, has won the title. That is, in four of the previous five seasons.
Nketiah was unable to catch the other end of a fantastic Tomiyasu pass in the 64th minute. But, these moments of joy were rare in the case of Arsenal. Furthermore, Haaland gave a nimble pass into Ilkay Gundogan. As Gundogan, who was on his way to the goal in 72nd minutes following Bernardo Silva snaffled Gabriel’s poor cross.
Gundogan returned possession to allow Grealish to finish the move by a slight deflection. The view of Gundogan, Rodri and De Bruyne. Effortlessly, collaborating to make Haaland for the game-winning goal. Obviously, was an impressive statement of intent.
Pep Guardiola said: “My strategies were terrible:
“First half, they were better than us, in the second period we were more efficient,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime following the match. “At half-time, we told them that you can’t always play defense. They’re great, but we need to play more. Second half we were excellent.”
What was the reason? “My tactics. I tried something different and it was a mess. We let them play with the building-up of our shape. In the second half, we played more like us.”
It’s unlikely that we’d have this level of self-deprecation or sincerity if City had not turned things around however it was a sign that Guardiola has been working on a few things this season. The second time this weekend, Bernardo Silva lined up as an inverted left-back. The City boss’s halftime adjustments were decisive, and his decision to switch to a more standard defensive four which included bringing Manuel Akanji on for Riyad Mahrez and introducing Silva to the press attacking — resulted in things a nightmare for Arsenal.
Arsenal vs Man City as it happened during the Premier League top-of-the-table clash:
Fulltime: Phil Foden rounds off stoppage time with a keep ball in the corner the area where Man City fans are situated and the celebrations start at the timer. It’s a major, massive victory for Man City that needed to get back into the game. Arsenal Vs Man City and change the game their favour at halftime. Arsenal did well in the first 45 but now they’re three games in the league without a win and City are back in the lead. Mikel Arteta’s side are still playing with a match to play but this is an enormous challenge for their grit now.