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The visiting team went ahead by a couple of minutes, with Gabriel Jesus beating Alex Runarsson at the near post and Pep Guardiola’s team was absolutely dominant from that point in the opening 45 minutes, with some half chances being rejected.
But Alexandre Lacazette headed in for the equalizer just after half an hour with almost the first real attack of any purpose the home side had achieved, and they gradually improved a bit in the minutes leading up to the break.
City regained the lead 10 minutes after the restart after Gunners goalkeeper Runar Runarsson hit a Riyad Mahrez free kick into the net before Phil Foden scored the third shortly after, although he appeared to be out. of game. With no VAR in this round, the goal stayed and Aymeric Laporte added shine to the scoreboard when Arsenal collapsed.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
One flash … and it’s gone
There was work rhythm, speed in his movements, a real desire on and off the ball to get involved and help his team… but also a quick backhand.
Just minutes after delivering a good assist, a cross from the left for a Lacazette header, Martinelli went down: a collision with City goalkeeper Zack Steffan left him in pain and he didn’t really recover.
Despite walking until the break, and then trying a few minutes after the restart, he fell back again in two minutes and the hope will be that it is not another prolonged absence or a serious injury, as he showed more effort in his half on the field of what several with the Arsenal jersey have done too many times this season.
Man City celebrates Runarsson’s mistake
(Fake images)
He could have scored the last goal of the night, but at the other end of the field Aymeric Laporte is going through an unusual moment right now.
Given the unlikely resurgence of John Stones’ prominence, it’s an untimely loss for Laporte after a big expense behind this summer by his club.
He lost his header for Arsenal’s goal against Lacazette, but his lack of safety was visible even before that: he couldn’t cut a cross, then he didn’t get back into position, he got caught on the wrong side of Oleksandr Zinchenko and he couldn’t. ‘ Let’s not deny the French striker again.
Add in losing a few foot races to the veteran striker, a few wayward passing and losing aerial battles in open play and it was a million miles of his best, most dominant type of performance.
It was a strange decision for Mikel Arteta to rotate his goalkeeper for this match, it must be said. Maybe Runar Alex Runarsson deserved a game for his coaching presentations, maybe the coach was fed up with his team losing matches at the national level.
But with City’s rotation and a place in the cup semi-final at stake, this surely would have been an opportunity to inject some confidence and optimism into the team if they could pull off a victory.
That was unlikely at first, and less so after the sad night of the Icelandic goalkeeper. Despite a good one-on-one save, he nearly got caught trying to get through his back on at least two occasions, before his nightmare moment saw him throw a well-hit but straight free kick at him. , over his own shoulder and at the net – a really poor piece of the most basic goalie imaginable.
Arsenal never recovered and the Icelandic stopper may not play much more this season, except in the FA Cup.
Phil Foden celebrates getting on the roster
(Fake images)
Pep’s almost perfect record
It has been more than 1,500 days since City and Guardiola lost a League Cup match, a frankly ridiculous display of consistency, even in a cup avoided by many of the strongest lineups.
City have won the last three League Cups in a row and are well placed to go all the way once again as they are now in the semi-finals with maybe three teams that might be able to beat them yet, at least. one of which will disappear on Wednesday.
Everton face Man United and either of them could see Pep’s side, while Spurs could also imagine their chances given that they recently beat City. But equally, City have the greatest strength in depth and will remain the favorite if opponents go for something other than their strongest possible lineup.
They will now have an eye on equaling Liverpool’s record of four consecutive League Cup victories.
Last season, while the form of the league remained patchy and in the middle of the table, Arsenal succeeded in the cup to lean on.
They won the FA Cup, had a decent streak in the Europa League and had a strange result that sparked optimism, but 20/21 so far has been an unfortunate spiral of poor results and lethargic displays.
The Gunners are now 15th in the table and it doesn’t get any easier: Chelsea is next on Boxing Day, ahead of what will now be cruelly and accurately called bottom-up battles against fighters Brighton and West. Brom; the first are 17th in the table, but only two points behind Arteta’s team.
There is still a lot of work to be done and there is no easy way back to the top.
