City Are Back : Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1
By David Crook
Quite simply, when Manchester City reach a certain peak in their performance they are unplayable and for moments yesterday there were times where the Arsenal defence was mesmerised, stood still like rabbits in the headlights of an onrushing car.
That is not to say this was an easy game because it was not. Arsenal pressed and scurried and forced errors where they could but whether they were caught out by our unusual tactical set up or simply did not have the guile to capitalise on our one or two moments of carelessness was not clear to me. The press are fond of saying Arsenal are a side in transition, which I think is some kind of shorthand to say they require investment in defence and goalkeeper.
Leno in the Arsenal goal made a lot of saves but for some strange reason decided to punch or parry every one of these back into danger. If he is to hand any solidity to a shaky defence he needs to protect the ball better. Arsenal were industrious throughout and in particular a couple of their players looked very good, capable of building a side around if the owner has the ambition. Those players were Torreira and Guendouzi. Others did not appear so critical and i was left wondering how poor must Ozil be at the moment if he cannot get past Iwobi and into this Arsenal side?
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Pep Guardiola made one of those bold moves before kick off which seemed to beguile the Arsenal manager and team alike. When these decisions come off he looks to all accounts like a genius, but fortune favours the brave. After having fielded the same formation for 99% of their last 100 games, City switched to a fluid system which relied heavily upon the influence of Fernandinho. Without the ball City operated a defensive four with Fernandinho slipping into the right sided centre back slot. With the ball he strode into midfield and Walker came inside to leave a back three.
This subtle tweak in set up allowed a couple of things to happen. Firstly, Fernandinho was able to oversee an overload in midfield when attacking so there were always options and space to pass into. Secondly, the formation allowed Guardiola to play Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in the same side. Although De Bruyne often sat deep like a quarterback, the endless running of the others created problems for Arsenal.
Playing a system like this does create some spaces which better passing sides than Arsenal could exploit. Lofted passes into the space on the wings behind our midfield would force our defensive back three to split and leave them susceptible to midfield runners, but yesterday most of those passes went astray.
By his own impressive standards this was a slow start for Sergio Aguero who took 48 seconds to notch the opening goal. From the kick off City leapt into attack, and Arsenal attempted to clear their lines but Aymeric Laporte robbed Iwobi of the ball on the edge of the penalty area and sent a whipped cross into the 6 yard box. Aguero stooped low to head the ball into the net. This was a wonderful goal which will be emulated on school playgrounds throughout the week.
City continued to thrust forwards at every opportunity and should have had a second goal after Aguero was clearly fouled in the penalty area. He was pulled back by Mustafi but somehow the referee waved play on. Conspiracy theorists amongst City fans were by now donning their tin foil hats and wondering if some greater drama was at play.
A City goal from a wonderful De Bruyne cross was then ruled out for offside and by now we were all wondering if City not taking their chances was going to come back and haunt us. This feeling was reinforced when Koscielny equalised from a corner. After recent games, City were now under pressure and it was interesting to watch how they responded. They regrouped and continued to seek the beautiful pass and control to unlock another goal.
City scored a fantastic second goal just before half time which came from great work by a number of players, notably Ilkay Gundogan. Gundogan has received criticism from City fans in recent weeks because he often seems to slow the intensity of a game down but he has a range of passing skill which should be simply applauded. He lofted the ball with a flick over the Arsenal defence to release Sterling who squared the ball for Aguero to tap in his second.
The surprise was that it took over 15 minutes of the second half for City to find their 3rd goal of the game and to put the match to bed. Sterling got the assist again as he whipped in a cross which bounced off Aguero’s side and trickles past the outstretched Leno into the net. Some pundits initially seemed to claim the goal was a handball but slow motion replays show they are mistaken.
Arsenal made a series of changes but it was City who continued to dominate the game. Quite how the ball did not end up in the net again was a mystery. Aguero was withdrawn 10 minutes from the end to a standing ovation from the Etihad crowd. This was a world class performance from our talismanic striker who continues to excel against the very best teams.
City need to build on this performance in the games which are coming thick and fast. A similar level of performance against both Everton and Chelsea will leave the title race wide open as we approach the downhill stretch of the season.