Photo credit: Sports Vision
It was a tightly-paced battle with both sides giving their all, yet Arsenal were unable to shake off City's heavy pressure and eventually lost by a goal.
(Starting lineups for both teams)
Arsenal made few changes to their lineup, only bringing on Kenyo Tomiyasu for Ben White and Jorginho in place of Thomas Partey, while Manchester City laid out a unique formation, with B.Silva placed at left back and frequently moving down the left side, while City stocked up in the middle of the park, with the likes of DeBruyne, Gündo?an, and Grealish all assembling here, DeBruyne, Gündo?an, Grealish, Mahrez, Rodri and many others gathered here, with B.Silva finally joining the attack in the left center, as City fully dominated the midfield.
Arsenal obviously did not expect City to adopt such an extreme strategy, the midfield was instantly blocked tightly. City used B.Silva's mobility to strengthen the left defense and cut off the connection between Saka and Ødegaard. Ake kept breaking forward to destroy and completely cut off Arsenal's right attack, and it was difficult for Saka to touch the ball in front of the field.
Arsenal could only barely push forward on the periphery and get a quick shot off, but this did not pose a substantial threat to Man City. City relied on Haaland's strong impact to keep bringing pressure on Arsenal's defense. Haaland played aggressively, pulling to the side to receive the ball and charge forward in the beginning, putting huge pressure on the opponent.
In the 23rd minute of the match, City kicked off a goal kick, originally Arsenal right back Kenyo Tomiyasu tried to kick the ball back to the keeper but failed to control the effort and DeBruyne followed up with a header from the 18-yard line.
Arsenal tried to be aggressive in grabbing points and in the 38th minute, Xhaka took the ball in the middle of the pitch and passed it forward, Nketah received the ball in the box and shot, the ball was parried by Ake on the goal line but the referee ruled that keeper Ederson didn't have a touch on the ball, knocking Nketiah down and awarding the penalty kick, which Saka calmly slotted in.
The two teams drew at half-time, and City took further control in the second half, not only continuously destroying Arsenal's possession in the midfield, but also exerting high pressure up front, forcing Arsenal's defenders to go out early, leading to the midfield being quickly thrown into disarray, with Arsenal being subjected to this kind of suppression throughout the second half.
Haaland came close to a penalty in the 56th minute when he forced Gabriel into a foul but ultimately failed to get it as he was initially offside, but City had significantly more chances than Arsenal.
City continued to attack down the right, Xhaka failed to defend effectively with Zinchenko against City's influx of troops here, Jorginho's sweeping range was not as good as Thomas Partey's, and Ødegaard on the other side of the pitch stayed hidden, Arsenal's three midfielders completely collapsed under City's man-marking tactics.
In the 72nd minute, again on the right side of the field, B.Silva took the ball and suddenly passed straight to Zinchenko who dragged the ball back, Haaland was not offside and took the ball and rushed into the penalty area, he crossed the ball to the center of the Gündo?an, who in turn crossed the ball to the left side of the rushing up Grealish and shot into the far corner of the net from the 16-yard box.
This ball Kenyo Tomoyasu has been dragged back in front of the box, it should have been Ødegaard who followed him back.
Arsenal then brought on Trossard and tried to strengthen their attack, but City continued to press and force the ball out of the Arsenal backfield, and Arsenal's current midfield couldn't seem to solve the problem. In the 82nd minute, Gündo?an played a pass straight to DeBruyne, who crossed the ball into the box and Haaland followed up with an 8-yard shot to make it 3-1.
The second and third goals were also due to Zinchenko dragging the ball behind him, and City capitalized on his weaknesses behind the ball to apply continuous pressure and bring the game to an early end.
Pep Guardiola did not emphasize possession in this game, but focused more on pressing, using the density of numbers in the midfield to push DeBruyne forward and pull B.Silva back, completely destroying Arsenal's three midfielders and making it almost impossible for Arsenal to pick up the ball in front of the field, which was a very successful tactic. Currently Arsenal is tied with Man City with 51 points with one game less, and the gap between the two teams is very close.
