Arsenal were handed their second defeat of the week as they lost 2-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. The loss, after the beating at Everton in midweek leaves the Gunners in the fourth place in the table, 9 points off the table toppers Chelsea while City moved into the second place, at least till Liverpool play their match.
The Gunners took an early lead through Theo Walcott just five minutes after the kick-off with the Citizens looking extremely shaky at the back. There were chances for either team, but they did not make them count, which meant Arsenal went into the break with the lead. However, City walked in the second period with a renewed vigour and it showed with Leroy Sane equalizing not long after the restart. Guardiola’s men kept the pressure on, and Arsenal slowly seemed to crumble under the waves of City’s attacks and their persistence was finally rewarded when Raheem Sterling finished off a lovely ball from Kevin De Bruyne to guarantee three points for City.
In what was practically a 6-pointer game in regard to the title race, we look at three major talking points from the evening:
Sanchez in need of rest
Alexis Sanchez has been absolutely integral for Arsenal this season. Having already scored 12 times and assisted a further five goals, he showed early signs of what might come against City with a peach of a pass for Theo Walcott’s goal.
But despite his smart running and his enterprise, there wasn’t much he could do to help the Gunners salvage something from the game. He lost out in a sprint against Aleksandar Kolarov and seemed to fade as the game wore on. He seemed to have picked up a knock on his ankle that hampered him and the Chilean might really benefit from a short rest over the Christmas period.
Sane gives a glimpse of immense potential
Summer signing Leroy Sane’s fledgeling Manchester City career has yet to take-off with him moving in and out of the side so frequently. He had shown some flashes of the ability he possesses, but had failed to make a telling contribution so far.
But against Arsenal on Sunday evening, he was a consistent threat with his direct running and pace. He may have been let down by some poor decision-making in the final third at times, but he was always causing trouble to the Arsenal defence. The German also scored his first goal for the Citizens with a very good run and a tidy finish past Petr Cech. There may have been a hint of offside for the goal, but it stood and turned the match on its head as City never looked back after that.
The goal and the overall performance will have given Sane a huge shot of confidence and could very well prove to be a springboard for him to showcase why he is regarded one of the most exciting talents in Europe.
City need to tighten at the back
Just a minute into the game, City had committed men forward in their first attack of the game. And it continued with David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne finding space between the lines. However, minutes later they were punished by Arsenal from a counter-attack.
It wasn’t really surprising to see the Gunners hurt them on the counter. The City defence, in its current state, is nowhere near the quality that it needs to be for Guardiola to be committing eight players forward in attack and will always be suspect against teams that will hit them on the break.
Vincent Kompany continues to be absent for an undetermined period due to his injury troubles, John Stones was dropped after some poor performances and Aleksandar Kolarov isn’t a centre-back by any stretch of an imagination. What Guardiola needs now is to tighten up his defence, make sure it is strong enough for him to resort to his full-flowing football, or else City will continue to suffer.