Manchester City possibly decided the 2022/23 Premier League title race by routing league leaders Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Kevin De Bruyne scored in each half on either side of a John Stones’ header from a free-kick right before half-time with Erling Haaland striking late for the win. Rob Holding’s 86th-minute strike from the visitors’ second shot on target in the match did not salvage anything. City cut out the lead at the top to two points with having two games in hand than the Gunners with the destiny now in their hands. Despite the defeat, Arsenal did manage to secure Champions League football for the first time since the 2016/17 season.
As expected, both sides started the game aggressively pressing each other but Pep Guardiola’s men did it organized and definably forced Arsenal into early mistakes. De Bruyne almost punished one after Aaron Ramsdale parried a cross inside the box onto his path but he end up fouling Thomas Partey. The Belgian did not had to wait long to get on the scoresheet as he latched onto a pass from Haaland who brilliantly controlled a long ball to start the move, driving to the box and finishing at the near post past Ramsdale in the seventh minute of the game. City also allowed the Gunners to have the ball in this period and waited for a transition moment to hurt them.
One such moment led Haaland to play De Bruyne through again whose shot this time was blocked by Holding turning his center-back Gabriel Magalhaes for the second time in the game. Arsenal’s number one then denied the Norwegian several times in the first half keeping his side in the game although their resistance was broken again. The former Chelsea man was the architect for the second goal as well with Stones heading his free-kick into the net. The defender was initially flagged offside but VAR had a recheck to overturn the on-field decision. Going 2-0 down at half-time, Mikel Arteta’s side knew it was over for them.
City started the second half in the same fashion as the first half and after another save by Ramsdale in a one-and-one situation Haaland grabbed their third. The duo that tore apart the opposition's defense before the break did the trick again. Capitalizing on a loose pass from Martin Odegaard, of all people, the ex-Dortmund goal scorer put Kevin into space again to complete his brace. Holding did pull one back, however, the stage was set for the rampaging number nine to break yet another scoring record blasting his shot past Ramsdale from a Phil Foden pass in the last minute of the game.
Here are all the stats and records from the game:
Domination
Manchester City have now won their last 12 Premier League games against Arsenal including the previous eight games at the Etihad Stadium. They scored 33 times in that period conceding just five goals. City now have won seven consecutive matches in the league for the first time since a run of 12 games between November 2021 and January 2022, going on to win the title last season.
20 times
Pep Guardiola has now beaten Arsenal 20 times in his managerial career, at least five more than any other opponent he has faced. The Spaniard defeated them twice with Barcelona, twice with Bayern Munich and the 16 times with Manchester City. The Gunners only managed to win against the Premier League side under his management twice, both coming in the FA Cup semifinal stage in 2017 & 2020.
Favorite opponent
With his brace, Kevin De Bruyne has now scored seven goals against the current Premier League leaders. It is the highest goal tally the Belgian has managed against any club in his career. He has now scored and assisted in both the games against Arsenal in the league this season. The 31-year-old has also combined for more goals than David Beckham with 164 in 26 games less than the Manchester United legend.
Goal machine
57 - Erling Haaland has been directly involved in 57 goals (49 goals, 8 assists) in 43 matches in all competitions this season, 15 more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues, scoring or assisting every 58 minutes on average. Wavy. pic.twitter.com/dQ8rBNO0Iz
Erling Haaland broke Mohamed Salah’s record for most goals (32) in a 38-game Premier League season, set in 2017/2018, with 33 strikes in the present campaign. The Norwegian levelled Jorge Robledo’s tally of most goals scored in an English top-flight season in 1951/52 as a non-British international. Incredibly, the 22-year-old has scored more goals than Arsenal ever managed at the Etihad Stadium with the Gunners scoring 27 goals in 22 such games.
Goal provider as well
Haaland has provided an equal number of his assists as his fellow countryman Martin Odegaard of Arsenal with seven this season including two in the win on Wednesday night. Only his teammate Kevin De Bruyne (16), Bukayo Saka (11), Leandro Trossard (9), Andrew Robertson and Michael Olise (both 8) have more than him this season.
Four sore
Arsenal are now the first side to go winless in four consecutive games while topping the Premier League table in each match since they themselves did in 2008 with this defeat to Manchester City after drawing with Southampton, West Ham and Liverpool in the previous games. They went on to finish third in the campaign.
Losing streak
The North Londoners have lost 12 Premier League games against Manchester City which is their longest streak of defeat and by any opponent in the competition history.
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