Sitting on a piece of artificial turf next to Jim, a thirteen-year-old “ball boy”, it is true that we saw Donnarumma’s blunder on Havertz’s equalizing goal (18th: 1-1), at the other end of the field, very badly. On the other hand, we were on the good side, two minutes earlier, when Rayan Cherki opened the scoring by breaking through the London defense (16th: 1-0).
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From our uncomfortable place (sitting cross-legged) but oh so extraordinary, we were able to feel the vibrations of the stand when the ball entered David Raya’s net. But above all we were immersed, almost as if we were with the players.
We saw Erling Haaland come and get a ball less than a meter from us; Bernardo Silva and Declan Rice go for corner kicks; or Ben White arriving at the end of the race right into the billboard a few centimeters from us, even narrowly avoiding crushing our computer…
Belgians abroad – Manchester City gets the better of Arsenal and definitively restarts the title race
This proximity obviously also made it possible to feel the enormous tension linked to the stakes of this duel. Although Erling Haaland’s 2-1 was scored in the opposite goal (65th: 2-1), we were able to shudder at the joy of Donnarumma and the cries of the Mancunian fans, just behind us. Even more so, after Kai Havertz’s missed equalizer at the end of stoppage time, despite a great cross from Leandro Trossard.
Once the three shots had been whistled by Mr Taylor, the exultation of the City players and crowd almost resembled the title celebration. “City, City, City !”sang the stadium before singing several traditional songs during the players’ lap of honor, and not forgetting to entertain the 2,000 or so Arsenal supporters.
Certainly, this success allows Pep Guardiola’s team to come back to within three points of the Gunners, with this match still late against Crystal Palace (scheduled for May 22). However, Arsenal maintains the advantage in the standings as well as in average (+1 over City). Everything will therefore be decided during the last five meetings (six for City).
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