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Manchester City have now won nine Premier League games in a row and remain unbeaten this season thanks to a 3-1 win over Arsenal at the Etihad. The Blues were sensational in the first half, but the Gunners made things tough in the final period and forced City to work hard for the result, but in the end they got it in dominant fashion.
FIRST HALF
The first half was an amazing displaying of footballing brilliance from the Blues, who made Arsenal look like an ordinary team thanks to their passing, movement and pace up front. Sergio Agüero and Raheem Sterling had clear-cut chances inside the first 15 minutes, but they couldn’t finish.
It didn’t take long for City to find the goal, though, with Kevin De Bruyne putting the Blues ahead in the 19th minute with a beautiful strike using his “weaker” left foot. After scoring City increased the pressure even more, but they could never finish their chances thanks to bad decisions and poor final balls. Arsenal nearly got an undeserved equalizer through Aaron Ramsey just before halftime, but Ederson made a fantastic save.
At halftime, City were dominating every phase of the game and should have killed the match, but they still needed to finish the job in the second half.
SECOND HALF
Just five minutes into the final period Nacho Monreal brought Raheem Sterling down inside the box, and Sergio Agüero doubled City’s lead from the penalty spot. The Blues dropped their intensity after scoring and allowed Arsenal to go forward and create chances, and Alexandre Lacazette got the Gunners back in the game with about 30 minutes to go.
Immediatelly following Arsenal’s goal the game was very open with both teams looking to counter attack and not keep possession, but no chances were created and the Blues finally got some control of the ball. Once they did, they easily found space in side the Arsenal defense, and David Silva (who was a little bit offside) gave a tap-in to Gabriel Jesus who made it 3-1 for City.
The final minutes featured Arsenal players desperately running trying to get the ball back while City just passed it around with the crowd chanting “Olé!I”. The game ended with a somewhat close scoreline, in a game that wasn’t close at all. City were the better team for 90% of the game and deserve the result. This team can’t be stopped right now, plain and simple.
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling (Gundogan), Agüero (Jesus), Sané (Bernardo)
Goals: De Bruyne (19’), Agüero (50’), Gabriel Jesus (74’)
Arsenal: Cech; Koscielny, Coquelin (Lacazette), Monreal; Bellerín, Ramsey, Xhaka (Giroud), Kolasinac; Özil, Alexis, Iwobi (Wilshere)
Goal: Lacazette (65’)