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Raheem Sterling’s goal in the first half was enough for Pep Guardiola to overtake his former assistant as Manchester City beat Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal 1-0.
Sterling struck in the 23rd minute when Bernd Leno could only stop Phil Foden’s shot and Ederson made sure it was enough as he made good saves from Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before the break.
Without Kevin De Bruyne, City were far from their swashbuckling best, but when Sergio Agüero again scored 65 minutes in his first appearances since June, they polished the result to capitalize on Liverpool’s controversial draw in the Merseyside derby and open up. way to the upper half.
Arteta planned victory when these two teams met in the FA Cup semi-final in the summer, but Arsenal have not won at the Etihad since January 2015, with City winning eight and drawing two of the last 10 meetings between the two teams.
Full match details
Although Aguero’s return was a boost, Guardiola was forced into a defensive shakeup with Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy missing through injury, adding to concerns ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with Porto.
City initially lined up with Joao Cancelo on the right back, Kyle Walker accompanying Ruben Dias in the center and Nathan Ake on the left, he thought best described as fluid as Guardiola tried to keep his former right man guessing.
The first signs were promising, as Riyad Mahrez fired a very close shot with less than a minute to go before hitting Aguero, who headed in from close range.
Arsenal were slow to grow in the game, but just as they were beginning to take hold in the City half, the hosts took the lead with 23 minutes remaining.
Agüero stepped forward to feed Foden on the left. The England midfielder stepped in to see his shot parried by Leno, but Sterling fell kindly to bring the side foot home.
Arsenal responded immediately when Saka twisted and twisted to create shooting space, but saw his increasing effort pushed in before Nicolas Pepe was thrown wide open.
The game was open now when Mahrez forced a save from Leno before the Arsenal goalkeeper prevented Foden from taking advantage of a loose pass from Gabriel, but the Gunners cheered as they finished the stronger half.
Ederson made a brilliant save to deny Saka when he teamed up with Granit Xhaka to break through City’s defense, only for the keeper to return his shot.
And Ederson went big again moments later to deny Aubameyang point-blank, with replays showing the Gabon forward was up for grabs even as the flag was raised.
Then Arsenal wanted a pre-break penalty for Walker’s high foot just before Gabriel fired wide, but referee Chris Kavanagh wasn’t interested.
Arsenal went straight off the front foot after the break when Pepe headed an Aubameyang cross to Ederson, hurting himself as he landed awkwardly.
After that early flourish, the two sides began to cancel each other out in a more cautious second half.
Aguero was replaced by Ilkay Gundogan in the 65th minute as Sterling advanced for City.
But it was Arsenal who threatened next with Saka brought down by Dias before David Luiz sent the resulting free kick over the bar.
Luiz then narrowly avoided an own goal at the other end when Cancelo forced space to send a low cross and the Brazilian’s blocking attempt went through the goal.
Pepe then doubled down another free throw narrowly after Walker knocked down Aubameyang, while Sterling missed a late opportunity to resolve it after bursting into the area.
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