Arsenal Makes Statement With Victory Over Manchester City
Sunday was a good day to be Gooner. After 15 consecutive Premier League matches without a win against the colossus of English football, 12 of which were losses, Arsenal finally triumphed over Manchester City.
To put this into context, it had been eight years since the last time Arsenal had defeated Manchester City in the Premier League. Eight years. That was 2015. Donald Trump had yet to be elected president, Pep Guardiola was still at Bayern Munich and Erling Haaland was a 15-year-old playing for Bryne’s youth teams in Norway.
If there was ever a time to finally break that glass ceiling, you would have had to figure it would be now with Mikel Arteta at the helm. However, Arsenal were without their attacking talisman Bukayo Saka, who was forced to watch from the sideline after limping off the field in Arsenal’s midweek embarrassment of a loss to RC Lens in the Champions League.
While this was a massive blow to Arsenal, they did have some good news in that the pacy Gabriel Martinelli would be able to make a cameo from the bench after missing the last few matches due to an injury of his own. Plus, City were missing both Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne due to suspension and injury, giving Arsenal fans an uneasy glimmer of hope heading into the match.
City dominated the early affairs of the match. Left-back Joško Gvardiol would have put the defending champions in front if not for a Declan Rice clearance off the line, and David Raya nearly gifted Guardiola’s side a goal after carelessly blasting a clearance off of Julian Alvarez‘s legs that nearly nestled into the goal. Although Mateo Kovačić was lucky to still be on the field at halftime, City was the better team, and it looked like they would do what they always do and find a way to pull out a victory in the second half.
Arsenal came to life, however. In the final 45 minutes, they were the team on top, the team that looked most likely to score. Granted, most likely to score is a generous term. Both teams were playing a tactically sound game that was surely loved by the managers but was rather dull for the spectators.
With both teams playing like this, it was no surprise that the breakthrough came via a deflection. Not just a slight nick off of the boots either. No, no. It was Nathan Ake‘s face that sent the ball into the goal after Gabriel Martinelli hit a one-time, right-footed shot after a Kai Havertz layoff.
Just like in the Community Shield, a deflection is what ultimately separated these two teams. This victory means far more than the one in the Community Shield, however.
The losing streak is over. Mikel Arteta has finally defeated Pep Guardiola. The pupil has finally defeated the teacher.
Arsenal are now tied with Tottenham at the top of the table. City have now fallen to third after losing back-to-back league games for the first time since 2018.
Arsenal also showed that they can win big games while missing their star players. Saka missed the game entirely, while others like Martinelli and Thomas Partey are slowly getting their match fitness back. City, meanwhile, have looked helpless since losing Rodri to a suspension. Already down De Bruyne for the rest of 2023, City’s shockingly poor form in recent weeks highlights the depth problems Guardiola’s side has in the midfield.
Last year, Arsenal lost twice to Manchester City. City was ultimately able to hunt Arsenal down and win their third consecutive Premier League title. City felt like the better team than Arsenal, and when push came to shove, were able to get the results they needed to retain their title.
This year feels different. Rice is a monster in the midfield, Arsenal’s attack puts fear into the hearts of opposing defenses and William Saliba is dominant in the backline.
Arsenal seems more mature and ready to really push for the title. The victory over Manchester City proves this. Yes, there are 30 games to go in the season. Yes, Arsenal is still technically behind Tottenham in the table. And yes, there is a chance that Arsenal bottles the league again this year.
But Arsenal made a statement this weekend with their 1-0 victory over the best team in the world. It’s time to give Arteta’s Arsenal side the respect it rightfully deserves.
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