Arsenal’s Victory over Man City Propels them into Title Contention
Arsenal’s Victory over Man City: The 1-0 win over Manchester City by Arsenal suggests Mikel Arteta’s team are capable of going one better than last season’s second-place finish.
Gabriel Martinelli’s late strike
, which took a huge deflection off Nathan Ake, earned Arsenal a first Premier League win over City since 2015 and should give Arteta’s young squad confidence they can dethrone City.
It was always going to be a much more revealing test to see if Pep Guardiola’s serial winners could lose their hold on power than Arsenal’s win over City in the Community Shield.
Arsenal have sent a message to their title rivals by beating Guardiola’s City for the first time in nearly five years, and thereby earned a huge psychological boost.
Premier League:
With the victory, Arteta’s side now has momentum to push forward after the international break.
As an added bonus, Arteta’s late win came without Bukayo Saka, who was not fit enough to join the squad, ending his run of 87 consecutive Premier League appearances at the worst possible time.
As great sides often do, Arsenal found a way to win without the England international, as Martinelli scored from the bench at half-time after returning from injury.
Thomas Partey and Takehiro
It would have been particularly satisfying for Arteta that all four of his subs contributed to the goal, with Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu involved in the build-up prior to Kai Havertz’s layoff to Martinelli, considering the questions about Arsenal’s depth, especially compared to City.
Mateo Kovacic’s dismissal in the first half might have made it easier for Arteta’s team.
After being booked for a studs-up lunge on Martin Odegaard, which was checked by the VAR for serious foul play, the midfielder somehow avoided a second yellow card for another slide tackle on Declan Rice.
City were missing their own big players in Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, who were suspended and injured respectively.
Arsenal were destroyed by De Bruyne in both games last season, with him scoring a brace in the 4-1 win at the Emirates and an early goal in the 4-1 loss in Manchester.
Erling Haaland, who scored in both games last season, spent a frustrating evening feeding off scraps as Jorginho and Rice screen the defense. David Raya was shaky, but he didn’t have to make any major saves.
After last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Wolves, City also looked far more open without Rodri in the middle. After the international break, Rodri will serve his final match of his ban at home to Brighton.
As a result, City now look fallible, and Arsenal – as well as Liverpool and Tottenham and Newcastle – can take heart from the fact that City are not yet as dominant as they were last year.
Arsenal now have a landmark victory over their rivals in the bag, which may have a major bearing on where the title ends up for Guardiola’s team. You Might Also Like…
