Arsenal’s defense continuously made inexcusable mistakes in all three goals conceded at Emirates Stadium, handing the top spot to rival Man City in the 12th round match of the Premier League.
Just got primedMan Cityeliminated from the FA Cup at the end of January, Arsenal was determined to reclaim this “debt” when the two sides met in the Premier League on the morning of February 16 at the Emirates Stadium. Experts call this the first leg final, although a bit reluctant about the time factor, but in terms of the “two-horse” race to the championship, the heroic performance at Emirates is still special because the winning team have a chance to take the top spot.
The match in London, as expected, was very exciting right after the opening whistle. The home field advantage helps Arsenal enter the game with confidence and continuously organize attacks towards the goal of Man City. The opportunity to open the scoring came to the “Gunners” in the 22nd minute when Oleksandr Zinchenko hung the ball deep into the penalty area, eliminating the entire Man City defense, but unfortunately, Eddie Nketiah headed the ball wide.
Man City’s counterattack was equally dangerous and only two minutes later, the away team had a goal to break the deadlock. Home defender Takehiro Tomiyasu passed back without observation, inadvertently creating an opportunity for Kevin de Bruyne to steal the ball and hit the shot, defeating goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal tried to attack and got a 1-1 equalizer after 42 minutes. Ederson keeper fouled Eddie Nketiah in the box and 11 yards out, Bukayo Saka scored a penalty to bring the game back to the starting line. broadcast. Man City players reacted violently to this situation but to no avail.
After the break, Man City pushed up the attacking squad, pushing Arsenal’s defense into a very struggling position. In the 57th minute, midfielder Gabriel fouled Erling Haaland in the penalty area but after consulting VAR, the referee canceled the decision to blow the penalty against Arsenal and also removed the yellow card for Gabriel when determining that the Norwegian striker had was in an offside position earlier.
Still, Gabriel passed the broken ball near the middle of the field in the 72nd minute, creating conditions for Man City to organize a quick attack. Erling Haaland had a cross and Ilkay Gundogan released the ball for Jack Grealish to shoot, knocking down goalkeeper Ramsdale. In the 82nd minute, De Bruyne had a set assist, helping Erling Haaland to score and extinguish all hopes of reversing the situation of the Arsenal host.
Man City beat Arsenal 3-1 and overcame their own opponents to occupy the top of the Premier League standings. The two teams have 51 points, but Man City is ranked above thanks to more sub-stats as well as more than one game. Arsenal’s sublime days have become murky since meeting Man City with a series of 4 draws and losses, losing the right to continue in the FA Cup and being knocked out of the top of the Premier League.
