LONDON — Arsenal secured their biggest win over Manchester City in 22 years on Sunday after thrashing Pep Guardiola’s side 5-1 at Emirates Stadium.
Martin Ødegaard opened the scoring in the second minute after Manuel Akanji was caught in possession before Erling Haaland equalised 10 minutes after the break with a towering header. However, the Gunners’ response was emphatic. Just 105 seconds later, the home side was back in front as Thomas Partey’s deflected strike flew past Stefan Ortega.
From there, City were unable to cope as Arsenal carved them open repeatedly. Teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly scored his first senior career goal with a fine right-foot strike at 62 minutes before Kai Havertz added a fourth at 76 minutes. Substitute Ethan Nwaneri completed the rout in stoppage time with a fine curling finish from outside the box.
The Gunners closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to six points, while City remain in fourth place, level on points with Newcastle United immediately below them. — James Olley
Arsenal get revenge over Haaland, City
It took just two minutes for the extent to which Arsenal were motivated by Haaland’s past behaviour to come to the fore. As Emirates Stadium erupted following Odegard’s early opener, Gabriel Magalhães was caught on camera shouting in Haaland’s face as he ran off to celebrate.
The animosity wasn’t difficult to predict. Haaland’s “stay humble” comment to Mikel Arteta at the end of September’s reverse fixture has lingered in the Gunners’ collective memory, along with Haaland throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head after John Stones’ 97th-minute equaliser that day.
Gabriel’s response at the time was to pointedly warn City that “we are waiting for them at our ground,” and so it proved. It appeared at one stage that Haaland would define this game as his 55th-minute header drew City level, scoring his 250th senior club goal in the process — a faster rate than Lionel Messi (327), Kylian Mbappé (332), Harry Kane (430) and Cristiano Ronaldo (451) — but after Partey’s strike, Lewis-Skelly had the last laugh, reacting to his superb 62nd-minute effort by employing Haaland’s meditating celebration.
Haaland was seen in September asking Lewis-Skelly, “Who the f— are you?” He knows now. — Olley
City undone by costly mistakes
Guardiola has enough on his plate trying to rebuild City’s season without players making individual errors and costing goals. Akanji was at fault for Arsenal’s first when he was robbed by Leandro Trossard.
It almost happened again midway through the first half when Ortega misjudged a pass into midfield and Mateo Kovacic was caught on the ball by Declan Rice. City got away with it only because of a horrible effort from Havertz, which he somehow managed to drag wide of the post.
The mistake leading to Arsenal’s second goal will disappoint Guardiola the most. City had worked so hard to stay in the game and equalise through Haaland, but it was all undone just two minutes later when Phil Foden’s loose pass was picked off by Partey, who found the net via a deflection off Stones’ back.
It was another individual error that allowed Chelsea to take an early lead at the Etihad Stadium last week. On that occasion, City had enough to fight back. Arsenal, however, are far more ruthless and made the visitors pay for gifting them two goals. — Rob Dawson
Arsenal pose title question to Liverpool
Sunday’s game was the last chance Arsenal had to apply pressure on Liverpool before the leaders play their long-awaited game in hand.
The Gunners desperately needed to cut the gap to six points to turn up the heat on Liverpool ahead of their Merseyside derby at Everton, a match that takes on a new dimension following manager David Moyes’ return to the club. The last-ever Goodison Park derby was always going to be an emotive affair, but Everton now look to be a tougher proposition under Moyes, winning their past three matches against Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City.
Consequently, victory for Arsenal was paramount to raise the stakes, and so to respond to City’s equaliser this emphatically — against a team they have so often been outclassed by in recent years — seemed like a significant step. It is only their third win from 12 games against teams in the top half, a record they had to improve and need to continue to do so to reign in Arne Slot’s side. They have now won consecutive home games against City for the first time since 2009. — Olley
The puzzling omission of De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne has played a more reduced role this season, but it was still a surprise to see him named on the bench at the Emirates. Guardiola has been keen to insist that he must manage the Belgium international’s minutes after the 33-year-old missed a significant chunk of the campaign with an injury.
He played for 80 minutes against Club Brugge in midweek, but could he not have done the same against Arsenal four days later? After all, City now have a free week to prepare for their FA Cup tie at Leyton Orient on Saturday.
De Bruyne is still one of Guardiola’s best players. He’s certainly his best passer. He also brings a composure to City that has been missing this season. Rodri is out and the defensive axis of Stones, and Rúben Dias has only been available to start one Premier League game this season.
By the time De Bruyne came on against Arsenal in the 72nd minute, the score was already 3-1, and the game had gone. Only he will know exactly how fit he is, but it seemed an odd choice to leave him on the sidelines for such a big game. — Dawson
Where does Marmoush fit in City attack?
The £60 million January signing from Eintracht Frankfurt was bright on the left wing on his debut against Chelsea. Moved inside against Arsenal, the Egypt international was ineffective.
His best games in Germany came in a central role, but with Haaland guaranteed to start at centre-forward every week, it would seem Omar Marmoush’s best chance of regular game time at City will come out wide. Guardiola was asked about his new attacker at his prematch news conference on Friday, and he suggested the 25-year-old was a club signing rather than one he had specifically requested. Regardless of whether that’s the case, it will be up to him to find a position for Marmoush where he can showcase the talent that saw him score 15 goals in 17 Bundesliga games this season before his move to the Etihad.
There will have to be a period of adaptation for Marmoush, too. He was used to being the main man in Frankfurt, but that won’t be the case at City. Haaland is their primary goal scorer — as he showed again at the Emirates — and Marmoush will have to find a way to complement the Norway international. — Dawson
>
