{"id":2838,"date":"2026-04-19T17:27:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T17:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/?p=2838"},"modified":"2026-04-19T17:27:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T17:27:24","slug":"man-city-2-arsenal-1-where-does-this-leave-title-race-good-and-bad-of-donnarumma-red-card-gabriel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/?p=2838","title":{"rendered":"Man City 2 Arsenal 1 \u2013 Where does this leave title race? Good and bad of Donnarumma? Red card Gabriel?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

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What does this mean for Arsenal?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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There\u2019s no denying: this is a huge win for City. They are reeling Arsenal in as the season enters its final stretch.<\/p>\n

The frustration for Arteta will be that Arsenal didn\u2019t do a great deal wrong in this game. In fact, his team probably performed above expectations. They came into this fixture on a run of one win from five games in all competitions. City, meanwhile, have been on a tear in which they\u2019ve beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Given the huge disparity in momentum, this was a very even game.<\/p>\n

Arteta will doubtless reflect on Arsenal\u2019s nearly moments: Donnarumma denying Havertz one-on-one, Eze\u2019s shot spinning off the post and across goal, Gabriel\u2019s header being deflected onto the woodwork. The margins were fine in this game \u2014 and enough of them went City\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

This was Arsenal\u2019s best performance in some time. They will be gutted to have left the Etihad without anything to show for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n (Catherine Ivill \u2013 AMA\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Unfortunately, Arsenal\u2019s defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday looks to have been the shot in the arm City\u2019s title challenge desperately needed.<\/p>\n

Manchester City go to Burnley on Wednesday. By the time Arsenal play their next Premier League game against Newcastle on Saturday, they may find themselves in second place.<\/p>\n

James McNicholas<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Where does this leave City?<\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s on. It is on. I think a lot of people were expecting a City victory coming into this game and Arsenal put up way more of a fight than was generally expected but this result and how City fought their way to it will do wonders for them going forward and is surely another hammer blow for Arsenal.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of football left to play and City have the tougher fixtures, so this is by no means done and dusted, but will Arsenal come out of this run of results and start stringing wins together, with two games against Atletico Madrid to fight through? It\u2019s a tough ask for them and City now have a huge opportunity to make them suffer further.<\/p>\n

Sam Lee<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Gianluigi Donnarumma \u2013 The Good and the Bad?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The rough and the smooth of Donnarumma, eh! These were almost caricature examples of what he does so well and what he does not do so well.<\/p>\n

As the old Smiths lyrics go, City fans can laugh about it now, but at the time it was terrible.<\/p>\n

With Cherki having delivered so brilliantly to put City 1-0 up, a goal that really compounded all the pre-match feelings from both sides, Donnarumma\u2019s dithering did not just cancel out the hosts\u2019 advantage on the scoreboard but in the mentality stakes.<\/p>\n

The Italian had gone long to Haaland in the first minute, only for Guardiola to tell him to find feet, and he was at obvious pains to try that thereafter, most obviously for the Havertz goal.<\/p>\n

It was an error that could have ended City\u2019s season and kicked off wider debates around whether James Trafford should be given the No 1 shirt long-term, but City, with his help, turned it around. He atoned by saving brilliantly from Haverz in the second half, the kind of save that City bought him for, at a time when Arsenal came extremely close to taking the lead by other means. And then he dished the ball out to O\u2019Reilly, in oceans of space, in the build-up to Haaland\u2019s winner<\/p>\n

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Sam Lee<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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Why did Haaland end up changing shirts?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Haaland-Gabriel physical battle has been a well-established theme of this rivalry, but here it took its most visceral form yet.<\/p>\n

A punt upfield by Khusanov triggered another duel between the pair and, as throughout the game, they jostled at close quarters.<\/p>\n

There was the usual shouldering, tugging and grappling, before Gabriel ripped the right sleeve clean off Haaland\u2019s shirt. It perfectly summed up their combative history, coming moments after Haaland had finally bested his Brazilian counterpart to bundle in City\u2019s second.<\/p>\n

Before the goal, Gabriel had marshalled Haaland well, with the Norwegian looking sluggish as he stifled slick City moves with rusty touches and wayward passes. But as he reminded Gabriel, he is a handful even when not at his best. It was his fourth goal of 2026, a disappointing return by his standards. If he rediscovers anything close to his terrifying peak, City\u2019s title chances will be significantly boosted.<\/p>\n

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\n (Michael Regan\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Conor O’Neil<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Should Gabriel have seen red?<\/h2>\n

Gabriel and Haaland had been at each other all afternoon, with the City player gaining the upper hand when he won a physical duel to be first to the ball and put his side 2-1 ahead.<\/p>\n

Minutes later, the pair clashed again, with each having a firm hold on the other, and Haaland losing a chunk of his undershirt in the process.<\/p>\n

Their third close encounter ended with them facing each other down \u2013 literally \u2013 and a yellow card apiece.<\/p>\n

Gabriel\u2019s late flourish looked like a potential headbutt, but he was stepping away and there was no contact that would have looked like violent conduct to referee Anthony Taylor.<\/p>\n

VAR John Brooks would have been aware that his colleague had a good view of the incident and would have had scant evidence to justify recommending an upgrade to red.<\/p>\n

Graham Scott<\/em><\/p>\n\n

How did Arsenal try to set traps for City?<\/b><\/h2>\n

How Arsenal would approach this afternoon\u2019s title-decider was up for debate pre-match, but within minutes it was clear that they would look to impose themselves on City at every opportunity without the ball.<\/p>\n

After 10 minutes, they had won possession in the final third as many times (four) as they had done in their last two visits to the Etihad. They also pressed Donnarumma keenly with Declan Rice and Havertz alternating to force the City goalkeeper long and have Gabriel and William Saliba do battle with Erling Haaland in the air.<\/p>\n

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\n (Michael Regan\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By 23 minutes, Arsenal had made 41 pressures in the final third compared to City\u2019s five. For the goal, Havertz started his run to close down Donnarumma as soon as Matheus Nunes\u2019 throw left his hands. The Italian should have been aware enough to clear his lines first-time, but as Mikel Arteta spoke about earlier this month<\/span><\/u>Havertz \u201cpushed that element of luck\u201d.<\/p>\n

As well as making the final leap to block the \u2018keeper\u2019s clearance, Havertz deserves credit for the shape of his run. The Germany international cut off any potential pass back to Nunes, giving Donnarumma fewer options as he pounced for his first league goal since netting in a 5-1 win over City in February 2025.<\/p>\n

Rock Art<\/em><\/p>\n\n

How good was Cherki goal?<\/h2>\n

It was always going to take something special to prise open this watertight Arsenal defence, and it was Cherki\u2019s dazzling footwork that provided the key.<\/p>\n

The French international completes an average of 2.6 take-ons per game, the sixth-highest rate in the league, with each one adding to a bursting highlight reel. The deadlock-breaking one here began on the edge of the area, with Gabriel attempting to jockey him as he advanced into the box, wary that he could jink either way.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Arsenal defender was too passive, as he jutted a leg out from behind as Cherki skipped inside and beyond him. He then darted away from a Rice challenge, before demonstrating his frightening two-footedness with a pinpoint finish into the bottom-left corner with his right foot, having carried the ball on his left.<\/p>\n

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Conor O’Neil<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Could Gabriel decision have been a handball?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Gabriel took a risk by leaning into the ball to block a shot just four minutes into the match. He was just about on the right side of the law because he was struck high on the arm, at the cut-off point for a potential offence. And his lean was marginal, not extravagant.<\/p>\n

The incident was similar to a penalty awarded against James Tarkowski in the Leeds v Everton game on the opening weekend of the season. But the ball struck the Everton defender much lower on the arm, and he threw his whole body into the line of the ball.<\/p>\n

Graham Scott<\/em><\/p>\n\n

What did Pep Guardiola say?<\/b><\/h2>\n

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.<\/p>\n

\n\n

What next for Manchester City?<\/h2>\n

Wednesday, 22nd April:<\/strong> Burnley (A), Premier League, 8pm UK\/3pm ET.<\/p>\n

Saturday, 25th April:<\/strong> Southampton (H), FA Cup semi-final, 5:15pm UK\/12.15pm ET<\/p>\n

Monday, 4th May:<\/strong> Everton (A), Premier League, 8pm UK\/3pm ET.<\/p>\n

Saturday, 9th May:<\/strong> Brentford (H), Premier League, 5:30pm UK, 12.30 ET.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 17th May:<\/strong> AFC Bournemouth (A), Premier League, 3pm UK\/10am ET.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 24th May:<\/strong> Aston Villa (H), 4pm UK\/11am ET.<\/p>\n\n

What next for Arsenal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saturday, 25th April:<\/strong> Newcastle United (H), Premier League, 5:30pm UK\/12.30pm ET<\/p>\n

Wednesday, 29th April:<\/strong> Atletico Madrid (A), Champions League semi-final, first leg, 8pm UK\/3pm ET.<\/p>\n

Saturday, 2nd May:<\/strong> Fulham (H), Premier League, 5:30pm UK\/12.30 ET.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 10th May:<\/strong> West Ham (A), Premier League, second leg, 4.30pm UK\/11.30am ET.<\/p>\n

Sunday, 24th May:<\/strong> Crystal Palace (a), 4pm UK\/11am ET.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does this mean for Arsenal? There\u2019s no denying: this is a huge win for City. They are reeling Arsenal in as the season enters its final stretch. The frustration for Arteta will be that Arsenal didn\u2019t do a great deal wrong in this game. In fact, his team probably performed above expectations. They came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updatelive.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}