With the Premier League title possibly on the line, Manchester City left no doubt, brushing Arsenal aside 4-1 on Wednesday at the Etihad to draw within two points of first place in the league. While it may seem like Arsenal are in control, the title is now in City's hands due to their two games in hand on the Gunners. Win those and it's a four point City lead.
After an excellent feed by Erling Haaland, it was Kevin De Bruyne who would open the scoring in the seventh minute. Thanks to heroics from Aaron Ramsdale early, the match stayed close despite City peppering the Arsenal goal, at least for a while. It wouldn't get out of hand until stoppage time in the first half. John Stones found the back of the net with a goal that was initially judged to be offside ruled on by VAR, giving City a 2-0 lead before the end of the first half. It was a demoralizing way for Mikel Arteta's men to enter the locker room when the only good news following the first half was supposed to be that they were only down a goal and that they could get back into things. But when that goes in what does a manager say at the half?
It wouldn't matter anyway. De Bruyne completed his brace before Arsenal got a consolation goal from a rare party as Rob Holding had a cool finish from Leandro Trossard's layoff. City would restore their three goal advantage in stoppage time in record breaking fashion. Haaland finished a chance created by Phil Foden to score his 33rd Premier League goal of the season, a new record for a 38 game season.
Haaland passes Mohamed Salah who set the record with 32 goals during the 2017-18 season. Quite a way for City to enter the driver's seat in the league. Arsenal may hang their heads after the match but entering the season, this was a team that would have been happy to finish in the top four. With Brighton's loss to Nottingham Forest, that goal has now been accomplished so now Arteta will look to finish the season on as strong a note as possible because while hope may be lost, the Gunners have not officially lost the title.
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Big game Manchester City
If you give City an inch, they'll take a mile and Arsenal gave more than a few inches. It also takes excellence on City's part to take the chances in space they created. Haaland's passing has become underrated because he's so dangerous shooting the ball. He's not a selfish striker though, he's just usually in better positions than his teammates. But with de Bruyne being pushed up the pitch, City were happy to let Haaland create while de Bruyne ran into space because City has more than one player that can kill you by shooting the ball.
Defending a team like that is easier said than done and without William Saliba, it was a task that Arsenal weren't up to. Thomas Partey had a match to forget in midfield but he likely didn't expect to mark Haaland more than de Bruyne and that's a credit to Guardiola's gameplan. Finding a balance between outsmarting the opposition and overthinking things, this City team are hitting another gear when it matters most, and now their eyes are firmly set on the pursuit of a treble. It's now in their control, they just need to get over the line.
Where do Arsenal go from here?
While this was never a team expected to win the title, it's still disappointing to lose in this fashion and now extend their winless run to four games. First up for Arteta will be ending that slide next Tuesday against Chelsea. In the longer term, more midfielders are needed because while Granit Xhaka and Partey have been major cogs in a strong season, improvement is still needed especially as Partey is months away from joining Xhaka on the wrong side of 30. The team looked at Douglas Luiz and Moises Caciado in January and going back in for either could be a help especially since depth will be needed as they return to Champions League play.
Arsenal are a team ahead of schedule and that's not a bad thing as long as they can build upon what they've done. Title challenges and trophies should be the expectation from here on out as their biggest disappointment of the season isn't faltering in the title race, it's getting knocked out of Europa Leauge by Sporting CP. The club wants to return to being a world power and they've seen what one looks like up close more than once in Premier League play. They're on the right track but need to continue their trajectory. The squad is young and on fair contracts so there is plenty of room to build on.
City's path to clinching the title
The next seven days will be massive for Manchester City as they'll play one of their games in hand on Arsenal. An away trip to Fulham and a home clash with West Ham precede a tie with Leeds United that they'll probably need to rotate during as they balance a busy schedule before their Champions League semifinal showdown with Real Madrid. With a clean bill of health, rotation won't be an issue but they'll need to maintain focus with so many games to come. If they win out, they could be in a place to clinch the title on May 24th against Brighton and then rest players before the Manchester Derby in the FA Cup final. That date can move up if Arsenal drop points, but at the moment, Arsenal's maximum number of points is 90 compared to 94 for City.
