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In the end, all it took was 77 seconds. Manchester City extended their Premier League winning streak to 13 games and held a 10-point lead at the top with a 1-0 win that seemed, after Raheem Sterling’s early goal, could turn into a spree, but which ended up being slow. -Burn affair against a tough Arsenal.
Losing By One Goal Against Manchester City – This counts as a breakthrough right now, and Arsenal were impressive after a sleepy start.
Mikel Arteta has worked hard to instill more solidity in this Arsenal team. It was evident here, although they also struggled to create clear openings. Martin Ødegaard looked bad against opponents of this quality, a man struggling to find the correct page in the manual. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a restless figure, easily handled by John Stones.
It has become fashionable to speak of this City equipment as a machine, a beautifully high-grade piece of engineering with no waste or frills. This was the machine in reduced mode: another clean sheet and another good away win to cap a two-week streak in which City have worked their way through Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and now Arsenal. This is a team in one of those imperial phases where even the warm-ups, the hugs before the game, have an air of command.
Here Pep Guardiola rallied the Cancelo-Stones-Dias-Zinchenko backline, and continued to undermine the strengths of that three-man offensive midfield. Kevin De Bruyne started for the first time since January 20. In that time, City won eight in a row and scored 24 goals. Kev, long time no see. Of course we miss you.
It was actually De Bruyne’s supreme turn as a false nine at Stamford Bridge in November that really heralded this new City team model. Here he started again in the middle, with Riyad Mahrez on the right and Sterling on the left. It was a combination of this offensive trio that brought the only goal, skillfully worked, but with zero resistance from the red shirts.
Perhaps it was the breath of spring in the air. The Emirates Stadium was a nice, mellow place at the start, with a pale blue sky looming over the edge of that huge empty main stand. Arsenal also looked sleepy, the midfield passive, the centrals pulled by the lack of bodies to score.
The City players stroked the ball among themselves for the first minute. Finally, De Bruyne threw a pass to Mahrez. His deep center found Sterling, who is just under 5 feet 7 inches tall, flying unmarked to land a header from a center forward that overtook Bernd Leno. Inside the stadium there was a shout and an affectionate hug from the white-shirted team, but without a real sense of surprise. He continued as in those first moments when Arsenal seemed determined to “play dead” in front of a superior predator, refusing to participate in the game, like a hedgehog that, this time, has forgotten to curl up in a ball.
Mahrez continued to dance a lone Charleston to the right. With seven minutes to go, the score could have been 4-0. The shots were saved or were widely deflected. Sterling almost walked with another. “Communication,” Mikel Arteta yelled repeatedly from the touchline.
And steadily, Arsenal made their way back into the game. Progress descended on the left. Bukayo Saka found some space, grabbed the ball from Kieran Tierney and watched as his shot hit Aubameyang in the six-yard box.
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With half an hour passed, a kind of awkward balance had been reached, Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne sliding between the lines, Arsenal defending in a bright red block, both sides keeping their guard up.
Saka led Arsenal’s brightest moments. Five minutes before the break, Nicolas Pépé shot into the side of the net from an unpromising angle. And by halftime there was a feeling that City were dropping their levels, dozing slightly as Granit Xhaka began to control midfield.
City left early for the second half and started running. De Bruyne could have made it 2-0 with a nifty chip from a fine angle. Sterling carried the ball to the back of the Arsenal area, but Rob Holding deftly covered it, who made a good game after falling asleep for the first goal.
Once again, Arsenal found some traction. Silva was booked for a hack in Pépé. Ødegaard began to find some of those medium spaces in which he likes to lurk. For a time, Guardiola stalked his sideline, eagerly searching for the threads of his baggy gray cotton sweatshirt.
Even so, City always seemed to have another gear. The sneak, Ilkay Gündogan, found room for a shot that Leno positioned behind. With an hour passed, this had turned into an absorbing, finely balanced game of possession and quick breaks.
Gabriel Jesus came on for a tired-looking De Bruyne with 27 minutes to go, but Arsenal refused to falter, with Xhaka impressive in midfield and the left flank still their best route to goal.
With 10 minutes to go, João Cancelo matched very well with Gabriel Jesus, swaying inside Pablo Marí like a man in a girdle sliding across an oiled parquet floor, then hitting a millimeter-wide shot.
Arsenal had distant glimpses of City’s goal in those final minutes, but the Stones-Dias axis remains a formidable obstacle. Arteta will be encouraged by the feeling of parity in the second half. That blue and white machine keeps going.
