Man City 2 Arsenal 1
The title-decider didn’t disappoint. This game has been getting built up for months as a game that could decide which way the title goes in May and it delivered everything we could have wanted in a game of that magnitude, Arsenal actually started off strong which probably surprised City as Arteta went man to man in the press but it was City had the better chances as Cherki hit the post in the opening minutes as City looked dangerous going forward. City then did score ten minutes later as Cherki drove into the box skipping past Gabriel’s challenge and firing into the bottom corner on his right foot to score a brilliant opening goal for Pep Guardiola’s side, then just two minutes later the ball was played back to Donnarumma who took far too long on the ball allowing Havertz to close him down and tackle him to bring Arsenal back level with a calamitous goal from Cities perspective. From there the game was pretty even with Arsenal creating some brilliant chances in the second half to go in front with Havertz having his effort saved by Donnarumma after a brilliant Arsenal move, Eze also hit the post from a great effort from outside the box which just bounced out from the inside of the post. Just a couple of minutes after Arsenal hit the post City went up the other end as Doku found O’Reilly in the box who played the ball across to Haaland who slid in and found the back of the net to give City a vital goal in the 64th minute, Arsenal then hit the post again as Gabriel’s header deflected off O’Reilly onto the woodwork to keep City in front as Arsenal searched for the equaliser. Gabriel then should have been sent off for a headbutt on Haaland but Stevie Wonder must have been working the VAR as Gabriel quite clearly tried to headbutt Haaland which would have been a massive talking point if Havertz had of scored in the last few minutes from a great chance from Trossard’s cross but he couldn’t find the target as City took all three points in a game they simply had to win.
The quality at the top end of the pitch is the difference between the teams. At the end of the day one team has Haaland up front and the other has Havertz which was the difference today in the game, Havertz did well to press Donnarumma for the goal but he had two guilt-edged chances to score with the one on one giving Arsenal a chance to go in front at the start of the second half. The second chance was the header at the end of the game which he simply has to get on target at the very least but he could only manage to hit the top of the net, it says a lot when you’d rather have Mikel Merino in that position than your actual striker but that says it all about Kai Havertz for Arsenal. I don’t think Haaland played that well in the game but his battle with Gabriel was definitely a highlight throughout the game and in the end he came out on top with a great finish whilst grappling with the Brazillian, again I have to shoutout Rayan Cherki who yet again just sprinkled a bit of magic on the game which only he can scoring a mesmerizing goal to spark the game into life, what a player. I’ll speak about the midfield in more detail later but Bernardo Silva and Rodri yet again ran the game up against the supposed ‘PFA Player of the year’ who was nowhere to be seen at the Etihad, their experience has proved crucial in getting City back in the title race, again I was so impressed with Khusanov and O’Reilly who just continue to look so experienced despite being so young, it’s in Cities hands now which is the last thing Arteta would have wanted this time last month.
The fine margins were the difference for Arsenal at the Etihad. You could make the argument that Arsenal actually had the better of the chances in the game hitting the post twice along with Havertz missing a one on one but at the end of the day Arsenal just don’t have that quality in the attack that City have which will probably be the difference as to why City win the league this year. Going into this game I thought Arsenal might take a defensive approach to the game but they were actually quite proactive throughout the game taking the game to City particularly in the first half, one thing I was quite surprised at was that it took until the 84th minute for Arteta to bring on Gyokeres when they were already behind for twenty minutes before that. Even when he came on he didn’t even touch the ball which I think shows how poor of a substitution it was from Arteta, with the space City were leaving in behind I thought this was the perfect game for Gyokeres but I suppose Arteta thought otherwise. A missed opportunity for Arsenal who had the chance to basically win the league at the Etihad today, it’s not over yet but Arsenal have it all to do now in the last five games of the season.
The experience of Cities midfield are getting them big results. Pep has experimented with a few different midfields so far this season but Rodri’s return has been massive in Cities upturn in form over the last few months, I do think Nico Gonzalez was doing a pretty good job as deputy for Rodri but there are levels to this game and City have massively improved since Rodri’s return. Then alongside him the man-of-the-match Bernardo Silva yet again shows his importance in this City team with an unbelievable defensive performance and he never stopped running in that midfield, he’s going to leave a massive hole in the City team when he leaves in the summer and I’m not sure City can replace a player like that. When you compare the performances of Cities midfield and Arsenal’s I think the difference is quite stark so questions do need to be asked about Zubimendi and Rice, lets see if Cities midfield can get them over the line over the last few games, my inkling is that they can.
So, where does this leave the title race? Well City now go three points behind Arsenal with a game in hand which could put them top midweek if they manage to beat Burnley at Turf Moor, Arsenal have Newcastle next at the Emirates which normally would be a tough game but Newcastle are in disarray at the minute so you would imagine that Arsenal would win that game. It’s basically a straight shootout from now until the end of the season for both teams which could come down to goal difference if they both win all their games, can Arsenal bounce back against Newcastle on the weekend or will they bow out of the title race with a whimper? We’ll find out next Saturday.