Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal: Pep Guardiola's side outgun visitors as Kevin de Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus all get on the scoresheet
- Kevin de Bruyne put Manchester City ahead when he beat Petr Cech with a low drive in the first half
- Sergio Aguero doubled City's lead when he converted a penalty after Nacho Monreal fouled Raheem Sterling
- Alexandre Lacazette came off the bench to bring Arsenal back into the game with nearly half an hour left
- Gabriel Jesus wrapped up the points but David Silva appeared to be offside in the build-up to the goal
- PLAYER RATINGS: Sportsmail's Chris Wheeler was impressed by Kevin de Bruyne in City's win over Arsenal
It is just like they tell you in school. ‘Don’t play to the whistle,’ the sports teacher says. ‘If you see an infringement, stand in the middle with your hand in the air, as the game goes on around you. It’s bound to work out in your favour.’
Or maybe not.
Arsenal did not lose because David Silva was offside when creating Manchester City’s third goal. They probably would have lost anyway. What they surrendered, however, was the chance to test City’s defence under pressure. The scenario Pep Guardiola’s detractors have been waiting for, in fact.
Kevin de Bruyne continued his excellent recent form when he put Manchester City ahead with a well directed effort
City's new record goalscorer Sergio Aguero added another to his tally when he converted a second half penalty
Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez looks dejected as the City players celebrate scoring the second in the background
Alexandre Lacazette came off the bench to bring Arsenal back into the game, finishing through City keeper Ederson's legs
City were assured of all three points when they dialled up Gabriel Jesus from the bench to score the third
A single-goal lead, against a good Premier League team gaining momentum. Faced with this, it was predicted, City will collapse as the season wears on and they tire under Guardiola’s unrelenting command. They didn’t. Instead, it was Arsenal who blinked.
There will be the standard complaints about injustice here. Standards of refereeing have never been worse, according to Arsene Wenger. The second was never a penalty (false), while the third was plainly offside (true). Yet, equally, human error is a fact of sporting life and Arsenal stopped playing at a vital time.
In addition, City did not need the third goal for victory and their three points were thoroughly deserved. They were much the better team, and could have won by many more had all the crosses that skimmed across Arsenal’s six-yard box met a target.
So sympathy has its limits. Wenger should be as perturbed by the mental failings of his players considering that, at the time of the third goal, the game was in the balance.
Eric Brook's daughter, Betty Cowgill, hugs City's new all time record goalscorer Aguero on the pitch before kick-off
The home fans unveiled a banner in the Etihad stands to honour Aguero, who broke the club's goal record in midweek
Almost instantly Aguero nearly added to his tally when City broke from an Arsenal corner, but the striker missed the target
Mesut Ozil had a chance for Arsenal early on but he could not quite put a boot on Alexis Sanchez's ball across goal
Arsenal, set up as sturdily as Wenger allows, had stuck in there and benefited from the introduction of a £50million striker in Alexandre Lacazette.
He provided the cutting edge Arsenal had been missing, albeit now 2-0 down.
Laurent Koscielny played the ball out the back to Alex Iwobi, who in turn found Aaron Ramsey. He slipped it inside to Lacazette, who lashed a low shot past Ederson.
Suddenly, with 25 minutes still to play, it was game on. Whatever Arsenal’s faults, no one can argue that they do not have match-winning potential in this team. Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud. The Etihad was nervous, have no doubt of that.
At which point, fortune, and flawed thinking, intervened. And yes, Arsenal have a strong case that Silva, the provider, was offside in the build-up to the third.
As every school child knows, however, those cases should not be made on the edge of the six-yard area. Action, not words, count there.
So when Sanchez lost the ball cheaply, Raheem Sterling took advantage and quickly played in Silva. He looked offside by a figurative mile. He wasn’t. His forward leg, however, was in an offside position. No matter. Arsenal had to keep going to defend the threat.
Instead, Granit Xhaka stopped, hand raised. He was the man who could have cut out the cross with greater determination. Now he was out of the game. Silva briefly hesitated, heard no whistle, and carried on. Gabriel Jesus, left alone in the middle, did the rest.
Xhaka, of course, continued his protests into the book. Wenger poured his fury into the ear of fourth official Andre Marriner.
Yet, amazingly, despite this, there was no revision of policy and the result stood at 3-1, which is what City deserved. They were two goals better than Arsenal on the pitch, and twice that between the ears.
Arsenal didn’t play badly, as the scoreline suggests. City’s strength is that they are equally dangerous when not in possession. Like Liverpool, or Chelsea a year ago, one slip, even 80 yards from goal, and they are on you. An Arsenal attack, after two minutes, produced City’s first chance of the game.
Leroy Sane was causing Arsenal problems with his pace and skill on the left - here he takes the attack to the visitors
John Stones was caught out by the quick-thinking Sanchez and was forced to foul the Arsenal forward 30 yards from goal
City were knocking on the door and nearly scored from Sane's ball across goal but Raheem Sterling couldn't connect
However, the home fans did not have to wait much longer for a goal as De Bruyne broke the deadlock with a fine strike
Through a crowd of players, De Bruyne managed to thread a powerful effort past Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal
The Belgian celebrates with City team-mates Stones, Sane and Sterling after giving his side the lead against the Gunners
Sane toys with Laurent Koscielny as City look to press home their advantage and extend their lead over Arsenal
De Bruyne was in impressive form pulling the strings in midfield - here he keeps a close eye on the ball as he brings it down
City were looking likely to add to their lead as they relentlessly attacked Arsenal - Koscielny denies Aguero
Sterling led the break, four Arsenal shirts in pursuit, finding Kevin De Bruyne, who moved it on just as swiftly to Sergio Aguero, whose shot was snatched, wide, and wildly out of character for City’s newly crowned record goalscorer.
The virtue of being a forward under Guardiola, of course, is that miss one chance and another comes along almost immediately, and pretty soon Aguero was putting Leroy Sane in on the left for what should have been the opener.
His cross was low and lovely but Sterling couldn’t quite get there. Arsenal were reprieved — but not for long.
An Aguero cross was cleared and returned by De Bruyne, whose low shot forced a save from Petr Cech.
That save was picked up by Sane, and recycled to Fabian Delph, who restored it to De Bruyne.
He played a lovely one-two with Fernandinho before striking a low shot which this time flew beyond Cech’s reach. From there, it was only a case of how many.
Sane hurdles over Francis Coquelin as City continue to pour forward against their visitors from north London
Fabian Delph has enjoyed an extended run in the side, filling in ably at left wing-back and looked to get City going forward
Arsenal were all hands to the pump to keep City at bay, such as winger Alex Iwobi getting back to challenge Aguero
City got a chance to double their lead after the break when Nacho Monreal was adjudged to have fouled Sterling in the box
Aguero stepped up and sent Cech the wrong way with his spot kick, which went in after hitting the inside of the post
City's players huddle around goalscorer Aguero after the striker converted his penalty to double their advantage
There was a hairy moment for City keeper Ederson when he fumbled a routine catch and got barged into his own goal
Second half subsitute Lacazette gave Arsenal some hope when he made it 2-1 with just under half an hour left to play
The Arsenal striker punches the air after his goal briefly gave the visitors some hope of getting a result at the Etihad
Plenty, with better finishing. Silva had a ball fly across goal in the 34th minute and from the next break — again from an Arsenal attack — Sterling had only to hit an adequate pass to find Sane alone advancing on goal.
He over-hit it horribly.
In the 50th minute City at last achieved the distance their play merited. It was a clumsy challenge by Nacho Monreal that did the damage, a shoulder barge on Sterling that ended with legs entangled, and didn’t really come over as a serious attempt to play anything bar the man.
Michael Oliver gave the penalty, Aguero sent Cech the wrong way, scoring off the inside of his left post. Some would claim it was lucky; to be fair, as long as the ball rebounds the right way, off the inside of a post with the goalkeeper in the opposite direction is about as good as a penalty gets. After goal No 179, Aguero would surely know.
Jesus thought he had made it 3-1 when he pounced on a loose ball from a set-piece, but Cech made a stunning save
The Brazilian would not be denied for long, converting David Silva's pass across goal to secure the points for his team
Jesus celebrates but there was some controversy over his goal as Silva appeared to be in an offside position before his cross
Most watched Sport videos
- Melbourne Storm beat NZ Warriors with insane last-minute try
- Ryan Garcia wants to sue NYC Commissioner for mental evaluation
- Josh Mansour opens up about his exit from the Rabbitohs
- Kylie Kelce Irish dances on balcony for St Patrick's Day weekend
- Dame Laura Kenny announces her retirement from cycling
- Olivia Dunne celebrates LSU senior night as she scores PERFECT 10
- 'It goes down in history': Farrell and O'Mahony on Six nations win
- Liverpool's Klopp reacts to last minute defeat to Man Utd
- Ten Hag very proud of Man U team after Liverpool win
- Watch midfielder Josh Nisbet shred up the pitch with incredible assists
- Candice Warner defends Latrell Mitchell swearing on TV
- Ange Postecoglou addresses media after Tottenham's 3-0 loss to Fulham
Another job well done for City. They're clearly o...
by jw5 529