Guardiola’s tactical tweak proved to be a game-changer as De Bruyne was moved to a more forward position while Haaland played the role of provider. Their combination was lethal as they swiftly broke through Arsenal’s defense, with just a slight touch from Haaland to De Bruyne, who struck a magnificent curling shot into Ramsdale’s bottom corner, giving City the lead. Despite Arsenal’s hopes for a comeback, they failed to deliver, and De Bruyne almost doubled the lead after just 20 minutes of play.
City continued to relentlessly attack, leaving Arsenal lucky to have only conceded one goal. However, in the two minutes of added time, John Stones appeared at the back of Arsenal’s box to head home a brilliant goal from a free kick. Although it appeared to be an easy offside decision, VAR proved that Stones was onside by a toe, and the goal was allowed to stand.
The Arsenal team had a mountain to climb in the second half, having failed to manage a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes. 10 mins after the break, De Bruyne once again found a way past Ramsdale securing a the 3 points for City.
The game was over as a contest, but in the last few minutes Holding and Haaland both scored to make it 4-1 to Man City…
Teams that got point(s) from Man City this season never played expansive football. Just like how no team would play tiki taka against Barca at their peak except, Wenger. Klopp played direct long balls and long crosses effectively against us. That was not the usual tactic of Liverpool. Then it almost became the template for West Ham & Southampton against us. MA needs to have a plan B.
Very very good point!!!!! Or points!!!!!
Men against boys. Different class entirely.
MA needs to alternate with the squad, playing the same squad week in week out. Saka and Martinelli are not providing enough with Odegaard. Saka stays too wide and doesn’t drive forward enough. Martinelli takes the ball to the centre and expects players to move in the box for a pass. If we had played Nelson, Nketiah and Trossard earlier this would have had a better story to the game. Kiwior could have started along with Gabriel. We could have also played 3 at the back, Have Gabriel, Holding and White. Martinelli and Saka could have acted as wingbacks. My point is that we do not have flexibility when injuries come about. Especially now when we need Saliba.
Last nights game proved many things..
1:) Not only do we not have depth. We don’t have quality in depth. Man City have both.
2:) The soft under-belly that we’ve witnessed so many time before is still there. Mentally, we just can’t seem to be “up for the challenge”
3:) Tactically, Arteta is sticking to plan A because his rotation options are limited.
4:) Youth is great. This team is young but the main issue with a young team is a lack of experience. Even Jesus could see this squad can not deal with pressure. Saying that, experienced players missing last night.
5:) We will get CL football next year so it’s massively important to bring in some TOP quality during the summer. If we fail to bring in decent players, next year may very well see us drop out of the CL again. Other teams will strengthen for next year.
6:) This was our best chance of winning the EPL and we may have missed our boat for years to come. It’s just a shame we buckled under pressure once again. I fear some of the squad will look back in the future with massive regret on the 2022-2023 season!
I know there are many more points to be raised but I could write an essay. My only hope is that we don’t drift into a series of poor results until the end oof the season. City may slip up? We may still be in it? As Greavesy used to say, “It’s a funny old game”.
If we must secure maximum points from our remaining games, Arteta must choose players that are good and not the players he prefer/love.
Players like Zinny, xhaka and holding should be benched for the remaining games.
I don’t know why Joginho cannot play along side with Partey.
Arteta is simply too rigid!
If lost the league it’s not because City beat us away and home. It’s simply bc of Everton, Pool, WHU and Southampton games.
We are not in the class of City. They are years ahead of us including our coaching crew.
Playing Zinny at left back with Rob Holding at CB means an over work for Big Gabby.
There were not any highlights unless you are a Man City supporter who were outstanding. Not only did KDB play superbly (his goal was beautiful) but Haaland was strong and dominant and Jack Grealish has found his feet this season. They do not have a weak link and we do when injuries occur as our squad is nowhere near as strong.
There is no point having a go at Holding who has never been the answer when there really isn’t anybody else available to fill the gap. There are just not enough good enough players to fill in especially when facing a resurgent team like City who were amazing
Pep is a master manager and Arteta has to really have a proper post-mortem into the last 4 games. Inexplicably, as a result of the Xhaka incident the team went into meltdown and haven’t recovered.
Well said, SueP. Although I will say most of them were awful last night. Not just Holding. But it is plain to see that without Saliba we have crumbled at the back.
Gabriel was culpable for at least two of the goals as was Ramsdale. With these two in the starting eleven we shall continue to ship goals.These are the facts.In reality Man City did not have to produced any magical football to beat a woeful Arsenal side which only came to life when the substitutes appeared.As to our game plan and tactics I shall cover this aspect in a later post, but sufficient to say that Arteta is still so naive to think he can turn over City with an attacking 4-3-3 set up.
Some of us have been saying this for months Grandad. Everything was naive last night.
In a reply to you both, what did you expect Arteta to do? Go for a draw or a win?
Sue, a draw would have suited us nicely.Interestingly Pep has reverted to a more defensive 3-4-3 formation with a view to winning the European Cup.His midfield four which is backed up by Silva consists of two defensive midfielders, both of whom played at CB for their Countries in the World Cup, Gundagan and KDB.Their physical presence and skills are such that they are currently overpowering virtually every team they meet at this critical time of the season.Highly skilled wingers like Foden and Mahrez are held in abeyance for games against lessor lights where additional defensive capability is not required.This change in philosophy has virtually gone unnoticed and certainly our Manager has failed to adapt his preferred 4-3-3 , with an inverted LB system which has been blown apart by the likes of Southampton and Bournemouth.Meantime, one of the best left backs in the League is twiddling his thumbs on the bench.There is a certain arrogance to Arteta which disturbs me, and together with his stubbornness and failure to address our clear defensive weaknesses, he has let himself down and played right into the hands of his mentor.
Thanks for your input Grandad