Sunday saw a strong second half propel Manchester City over visiting Arsenal 2-1 and into second place in the Barclays Premier League.
After a 2-0 home win against Watford midweek, Pep Guardiola knew that Sunday would be a strict test against Arsene Wenger‘s Arsenal. With the Gunners leading Manchester City by a point coming into the match, Guardiola knew a win would lift his side over the Londoners.
Arsenal fell 2-1 at Everton midweek, which was their first league defeat since opening day.
More from Game Review
- Manchester City keep unbeaten streak alive with 1-1 draw vs Brighton
- Manchester City march towards the title with 3-0 win over West Ham
- Manchester City “tear cockneys apart again” in masterclass 4-1 Premier League win
- Manchester City produce a professional performance to reach the FA Cup Final
- Manchester City vs. Bayern Munich: the Etihad brought all the Champions League drama
Two changes were made in the starting line-up as Fernando started in midfield due to Ilkay Gundogan‘s midweek injury, and Leroy Sane came in for Nolito. Arsenal made one change from their Wednesday line-up as Alex Iwobi started for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The visitors got the early 1-0 lead Theo Walcott finished nicely from Alexis Sanchez‘s assist five minutes in. Walcott was played in behind the defense and slotted home into the bottom left corner.
Raheem Sterling came close to equalizing a minute later but headed slightly to the right of goal. Throughout the opening half, Arsenal had spurts of possession but Manchester City had the bulk of it. Yaya Toure‘s 45th minute header was saved by Petr Cech which was City’s first effort on-target.
As the teams went into the halftime break, Manchester City needed to take more chances and be more aggressive in order to score. Two minutes into the second half, Leroy Sane equalized from David Silva‘s assist which sparked the comeback.
Sane came close to doubling his tally in the 62nd but Cech stood firm and repelled the effort. Sterling extended the lead to 2-1 in the 71st as he rifled home Kevin De Bruyne‘s assist into the bottom right corner.
De Bruyne continued the second half dominance by hitting the post just minutes after. The defense held firm and didn’t allow another shot-on-goal in the match, as Manchester City earned an impressive 2-1 win at home.
City held the edge in possession, 61%-39%, while having five shots-on-goal compared to Arsenal’s solo effort. It was a good win for the team, who had already failed against top-sides Chelsea and Tottenham earlier this campaign. They showed their class, while also holding one of the most dangerous attacking sides to a single shot-on-goal.
After falling to Leicester a week ago, much was asked about Pep’s tactics defensively as Jamie Vardy shredded the back-line. Six points, and one goal allowed in the last two matches, showed the changes Pep made to the team’s strategy.
Next: Wayne Rooney's son to train at Manchester City?
Following the win, Pep Guardiola told
he was satisfied with the team’s effort in Sunday’s win. “All the game we played with a good personality, maybe not the opening 10 minutes. It’s not easy to make a good comeback, but I’m satisfied, the same way I was against Watford, Everton,
Middlesbrough
, Chelsea. It’s important now we are second, after what happened in the last month or month-and-a-half, to be second it is almost not true.”
At times the defense looked shaky against tough competition but Arsenal seemed to die off near the end. Besides his assist, Alexis was isolated for most of the match, while Mesut Ozil seemed invisible. Still, at the end of the day, the team showed courage and stood firm and they now sit second in the table.
Their run to the end of 2016 continues on Boxing Day at Hull City. Following that comes another difficult test at Liverpool on New Years Eve.