Arsenal 5 – 1 Manchester City
After losing the title to Manchester City in the last two seasons, Mikel Arteta’s team delivered a crushing blow to the league champions.
The match began with a serious mistake by Manchester City. Though they managed to recover from that early setback, they couldn’t keep their defense intact. In this high-stakes encounter, Arsenal dominated the match with aggressive football, dismantling City with a 5-1 victory.
On Sunday at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal triumphed 5-1 in the Premier League.
After Real Madrid’s recent loss to Espanyol, Arsenal reduced the gap to just 4 points between themselves and the league leaders.
In 22 matches, Arsenal now sits second with 50 points, having secured 14 wins and 8 draws. Nottingham Forest holds the third spot with 47 points. As for City, with their 7th loss of the season, they remain in 4th place with 41 points.
Liverpool, in top form, is leading the table with 56 points from 23 matches.
The game started with a mistake from City’s Manuel Akanji, which led to a goal for Arsenal in the second minute. After receiving a poor pass in front of their own box, Akanji lost possession, and Arsenal capitalized, with Martin Ødegaard scoring after being set up by Kai Havertz.
In the 6th minute, Gabriel Martinelli thought he had scored again, but the goal was ruled offside.
In the 23rd minute, a heroic save by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya prevented a header from City’s Josko Gvardiol from going in, while a later miss by Havertz left Arsenal frustrated with an unconverted opportunity.
The first half ended with Arsenal leading 1-0, thanks to several key defensive and goalkeeping saves.
In the second half, City equalized in the 10th minute with Erling Haaland’s header off a cross from Sávior. This goal marked Haaland’s 250th club goal, with 19 of those coming in the current season.
However, Arsenal’s good fortune returned swiftly. A shot by Thomas Partey hit City defender John Stones’ back and deflected into the net.
In the 62nd minute, Arsenal extended their lead with a goal from Miles Lewis-Skelly, who was making his comeback after a red card suspension. His powerful shot after receiving a pass from Declan Rice found the back of the net, making it 3-1.
Kai Havertz made it 4-1 in the 76th minute with a brilliant shot through two City defenders, securing the game for Arsenal.
In the final minute of added time, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri sealed the victory, scoring a beautiful curling shot from outside the box to make it 5-1, leaving City without a chance to recover.
