Not even Arsenal’s incompetence can mask City’s genius
By Elliot Howey
Manchester City handed Arsene Wenger and Arsenal their second thrashing in five days on Thursday.
Manchester City opened the scoring through Bernardo Silva’s delightful finish, which sailed past a helpless Petr Cech into the Arsenal goal. David Silva added a second for City 10 minutes later, with a tidy finished lifted over the Arsenal keeper. Then just after the half hour mark, Leroy Sane tapped the ball home from five yards out for City’s third, rounding off an excellent display from the German. Arsenal’s disastrous night got even worse when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty early in the second half.
Pep Guardiola’s men outplayed Arsenal, who were powerless to halt city’s dominance. City took the game to Arsenal early on and made them pay. However, the Citizens didn’t have to be exceptional after a dominant 30-minute spell in the first half was enough to see off a suspect Arsenal that left the field at half time to boos from their own fans.
Guardiola’s men are playing the best soccer in the Premier League this season, and there’s an argument to make that it’s the best the Premier League has ever seen. Tonight’s victory over the Gunners stretched their lead to 16 points and are on course to beat numerous records this season.
Wenger’s stubbornness to change tactics and personnel ahead of the game was his downfall. Shokdran Mustafi, Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka all came under scrutiny after City’s dominant 3-0 win on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final. Yet the trio who were called out for showing a lack of passion all started again tonight.
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Arsenal tried the same tactics that didn’t work against City on Sunday, and unsurprisingly the outcome was the same. The Gunners were left exposed in defense and Sane made sure Arsenal were punished. The German assisted City’s first goal and sealed the easy victory himself.
This match really didn’t tell us much, though. We already knew City are the best side in the league. For as well as City did, Arsenal’s suspect defense and tactics played into city’s hands. The Gunners left space for City to exploit and they were already full of confidence coming off the back off their Wembley win.
The defeat leaves Arsenal in sixth, 10 points off the Champions League places. Arsenal fans will be wondering how much worse can this season get. The defeat will also add more pressure on Wenger, with many fans calling for him to leave at the end of the season after years of stagnation.