Speaking on Sky Sports earlier this week, actor Tom Hiddleston noted that Arsenal’s position in the league table is a privilege. It was an honor to be chased by none other than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
However, after Sunday evening’s events, City may not be chasing for long. Indeed, Mikel Arteta’s side were clearly not encouraged by Hiddleston’s words. It wasn’t a game an Asgardian God would be proud of, far from it.
The Gunners were better, certainly than last week against Bournemouth. However, when they lost 2-1 in their last two games, they dropped nine points at the top of the Premier League.
The gap is now three points and if Man City beat Burnley in the middle of the week, which they should easily do, they will be top of this division. How Arsenal put themselves in a situation like this defies belief.
What went wrong for Arsenal against Man City
The main thing fans were looking at when the team paper was announced on Sunday afternoon was that Arteta had not only learned from the loss in the Carabao Cup final but also the loss to Bournemouth last week.
Luckily for them, he had it. This was a different Arsenal team. It was only the fourth time Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard started together. Eze was on the left with Odegaard in the middle. In parts of the game, it worked; the Gunners looked more creative than they have been in recent weeks.
Up top it was Kai Havertz who started over Viktor Gyokeres and at right back it was Cristian Mosquera who played ahead of Ben White. Arteta has often been stubborn this season but he wasn’t.
To his credit, his men played well. They did not disappoint at the Etihad. However, what mattered on Sunday was the result. Arsenal needed to walk away with at least a point to stop City. They didn’t. Again, they had no instinct to kill.
That said, not many were stopping Ryan Cherki from opening the window. The Frenchman, toes as shiny as he usually is, danced a lively jig in the penalty area and found the net.
Havertz responded almost immediately, forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into a big mistake but, in truth, that was the German’s best moment of the game.
He should have scored two more to all but put Arsenal’s name at the top of the Premier League. He missed a one-on-one when he slid into Odegaard and then went close with one of the last moves of the game. It was a free header and he could have saved the point.
Alas, it was Erling Haaland who had the last laugh (when?) by scoring the winning goal on 65 minutes, half an hour before that chance from Havertz begged.
Haaland is getting better at Arsenal too
Only two Manchester City players have scored more goals against Arsenal than Mr. Haaland (6). No prizes for guessing who it is. Yes, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne (8).
His thrashing against the Gunners on Sunday was typical of him, but it wasn’t good for Gabriel Magalhaes who was full of body and was too late to get to the Norwegian who beat David Raya with a poor looking but smart finish.
Truth be told, this was Gabriel’s worst game of the season, possibly his worst on the team. You’d have to go back a few years to find the worst. He was also wrong in the opener, allowing Cherki to get past him too easily.
For much of this campaign, the Brazilian was hailed as one of the best defenders in the world. At the start of the season, Jamie Carragher even commented that he was “the strongest player in the Premier League.” However, like his colleague, he has recently had an abscess.
|
Gabriel vs Man City |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
To touch |
42 |
|
Accurate passes |
24/30 (80% |
|
Key passes |
0 |
|
Dribbles |
0 |
|
He passed |
x2 |
|
Defense contributions |
6 |
|
Fighting |
1 |
|
Erasure |
2 |
|
Ideas |
0 |
|
Blocks |
3 |
|
Recovery |
3 |
|
Ground duels won |
1/4 |
|
Aerial duels won |
2/5 |
A master of set-piece tomfoolery, Gabriel has not scored a goal now since January 3. That’s not a full-back’s job, but his goal drought perhaps explains some of Arsenal’s struggles. They rely on set-pieces and it is perhaps no coincidence that they have struggled to achieve results without them.
Whether or not Gabriel had a voice in the opposition box, he certainly had a voice in his, albeit for the wrong reasons. He was given a hard time by Haaland. Honestly, it was shades of Rob Holding at the Etihad back in April 2023, being pulled from the post and replaced by City’s leading Norwegian striker.
Three years on, there is no sign of Holding but the ghost of that performance continued to be shown by Gabriel, which was almost made worse by what should have been a red card.
After a moment of ripping off the striker’s shirt, the two face off, for real. The defender swerved at the Norwegian and what was often shown as red was shown a yellow card by Anthony Taylor.
Gabriel was a very lucky boy. It was a stupid decision and one day he might have taken a shower in the morning.
The Brazilian superstar has impressed for most of the season but his displays this weekend have taken him back to the early days of his time at Arsenal after arriving for £27m. It was chaotic, lacking any kind of stability and would no doubt worry his boss before the race.
For the Gunners, it’s back to the drawing board. There is no time to lick your wounds. Now is the time to show how much they want this Premier League title. Will they fold like the cards or will they face City until the last day of the season?
