A defeat which relaunches the race for the title: in a match not to be lost against its runner-up, Arsenal was stunned this Sunday at the Etihad Stadium by Manchester City (2-1), who are attacking the Premier League leader. With this victory obtained thanks to two goals from Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, the Mancuniens – who have a match in hand against Crystal Palace to play – are only three points behind the Londoners, five days from the end.
In an intense match that looked like a final, the Citizens confirmed their spring revival, in the face of Gunners them in full doubt after already two title possibilities gone in a few weeks (League Cup and FA Cup), and a narrow qualification in the semi-final of the Champions League against Sporting Portugal. While Arsenal had the opportunity last Saturday to put City on twelve points and saw their first coronation approaching since 2004, Mikel Arteta’s men were under pressure.
Two faces for Donnarumma
Despite the fiery legs of a still untenable Jérémy Doku on his left wing, and the talent of Frenchman Rayan Cherki, Pep Guardiola’s players nevertheless struggled to succeed in making the leader give in. The fault lies with Arsenal’s defensive organization, united despite the sometimes gaping gaps opened by the talent of the opposing individuals, but also with a huge ball from City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who directly revived Mikel Arteta’s players, before turning himself into a savior.
Forced to win to get closer to the title, the Citizens immediately posed danger to the cages of David Raya, close to being countered by Haaland (4e), before Cherki finds a post (5e). A short-lived respite: detonator for the Mancuniens, Cherki left the Gunners defenders in place in a superb slalom, before finding Raya’s small net (16e). But City immediately gave up this advantage in the score, because of a big error from Donnarumma, blocked by Kai Havertz (18e), who wasn’t asking for much to score his first goal in over a year in the Premier League.
Always more pressing in the second period, the Citizens found the post on their way (48e) or Raya (52e), before trembling themselves in the face of the revolt of Gunners. Unhappy in the first period, Donnarumma turned into a hero in the second, with a double save on Havertz and Martinelli (60e), then with a quick restart, which caused panic in the Arsenal defense. At the end of this action, an ever opportunistic Haaland gave City the advantage back (64e).
In a tense end to the match, where the cards rained down and where Donnarumma was saved by his post on a header from Gabriel deflected by Nico O’Reilly, the Mancuniens held on to this essential success in the title race, despite a last header from Havertz who fled the cages (90e+6).
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