Butts: Cherki (16e) and Haaland (65e) pour City // Havertz (18e) for Arsenal
It was the match that all of England, indeed all of Europe, had been waiting for. This Sunday afternoon, Manchester City won the most important match of their season, against Arsenal, at the Etihad Stadium (2-1), and offered themselves the privilege of still believing in the title at the end of the season. In the event of a draw or success, the Gunners could have almost secured the trophy at the end, and even if they were not unworthy, they will have to make do with Cityzens returned to three small points and a game in hand.
Cherki enjoys, Donnarumma gets carried away
We were expecting a clash of the titans, we were served. In the shoes of the hunter, Manchester City presented itself with an offensive composition, with Bernardo Silva lined up alongside Rodri, leaving the possibility for Rayan Cherki to be installed higher up. And it didn’t take long to understand that the Frenchman was in for a big day, once again. At the helm of a number of dangerous situations, the former Lyonnais impressed his people, shortly after a quarter of an hour of play, when he wandered into the defense of Gunners as he would walk in his garden, before adjusting David Raya with a left strike (1-0, 16e). City were rewarded for their good start, and there were fears for Arsenal that it was going to be a long afternoon. Bad impression: less than two minutes later, the Londoners were back on level terms, thanks to Kai Havertz, or rather should we say thanks to Gianluigi Donnarumma, who completely missed a clearance after an excess of ease, which allowed the German to find the opposing net with luck and opportunism (1-1, 18e).
With Haaland, it only takes one
If City logically dominated the debates in the first act, Mikel Arteta’s players returned from the locker room with better intentions, and we then saw them on three occasions come close to making City falter. Having made a mistake earlier in the game, Donnarumma then made up for it by ruling out a huge double opportunity from Havertz, then from Gabriel Martinelli (60e), before seeing Eberechi Eze find the post (61e), just like Gabriel about ten minutes later on a corner (73e). Blessed by the gods, the Mancunians did not have a thousand chances but ended up punishing their opponents: in one of his only situations, Erling Haaland appeared at the far post, winning his duel with Gabriel, and deceived Raya with a low shot from the left (2-1, 65e). Arsenal pushed until the end, Arteta was undoubtedly a little late in bringing in Viktor Gyökeres (in the 84the minute only). In added time, Havertz had one last ammunition: a superb cross from Leandro Trossard, saved by a header just over the top. Arsenal fans can be scared, here are the Skyblues just three lengths behind, and with one game less on the clock. In other words: City are within striking distance, and we will be buzzing until the end of the season.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) : Donnarumma – Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly – Silva, Rodri (Nico, 88).e) – Semenyo, Cherki (Foden, 85e), Texture (Savinho, 88e) – Haaland. Coach : Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal (4-3-3) : Raya – Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Hincapié – Ødegaard, Zubimendi (Gyökeres, 84e), Rice – Madueke (Martinelli, 46e), Havertz, Eze (Trossard, 74e). Coach : Mikel Arteta
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