Arsenal put rivals Manchester City to the sword with a seismic 5-1 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners tore apart the Premier League champions with a dominant performance which included three second-half strikes, allowing Mikel Arteta’s side to close the gap on leaders Liverpool back to six points.
The hosts went ahead inside two minutes after catching City cold at the back. Manuel Akanji had his pocket picked by Leandro Trossard, and the loose ball was shifted on by Declan Rice into Kai Havertz. He cut it back selflessly for Martin Odegaard to convert and send an already fired up home crowd crazy. Arsenal had the ball in the net again soon after when Gabriel Martinelli dinked Stefan Ortega, but he was denied by the raising of the offside flag and the goal was chalked off immediately.
The first chance of note for City came midway through the first half when Josko Gvardiol nodded a corner towards goal, only for David Raya to thrust up an arm and tip it onto the crossbar, a save which brought a smattering of appreciative ‘oohs’ when later shown on the big screens. And with their next attack, Arsenal ought to have gone two up. Ortega sold Mateo Kovacic short with a pass from the back, allowing Rice to challenge and the ball to roll to Havertz, but with all the time in the world, the German dragged his shot from close-range wide.
Just after the break, City found a leveller. Savinho had plenty of time to swivel on the ball inside the 18-yard box, and his chipped cross found Erling Haaland, who ghosted ahead of William Saliba to head beyond Raya. However, Arsenal very quickly found themselves ahead again – within 38 seconds of kick-off, in fact – with Thomas Partey’s strike from 20 yards taking a wicked deflection off of John Stones and dropping into the far corner.
The Gunners were purring and added their third through Myles Lewis-Skelly, who cut inside onto his weaker right foot and curled home with a strike too hot for Ortega to handle. The teenager then celebrated by mimicking Haaland’s former zen celebration. Arsenal weren’t done there, either, as City were unlocked at the end of a quick breakaway, with Martinelli teeing up Havertz to finish and atone for his earlier misgiving.
And in stoppage time, the Gunners found their fifth. Substitute Ethan Nwaneri cut inside from the right and let fly with an audacious strike from just outside the box, leaving Ortega helpless with a phenomenal hit.
GOAL rates Arsenal’s players from the Emirates Stadium…