Arsenal Vs Manchester City: This one wasn’t as bad

Arsenal were decimated for the second time in a week by Manchester City on Thursday night. But this one, for a number of reasons, wasn’t as bad. Here, I detail why.

It’s never nice to be 3-0 down at half-time. It’s never nice to be 3-0 at full-time. But on a bitterly cold, ice-biting Thursday night, in which the weather very much portrayed the frosty, absent, sparse atmosphere within the ground, Arsenal suffered that fate.

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It was a blistering first 45 minutes by Manchester City. Showing their hosts respect by fielding an extremely strong team, Pep Guardiola’s men proceeded to pick apart the Gunners, each pass perfectly positioned so that the next could prise open the precise angle at which the defence would become unhinged at the attack could strike.

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There was a growing angst as Petr Cech curled his way back into the goal to haul yet another ball in the stands that this was just another insipid Arsenal performance. Not only lacking in the quality that City so brilliantly displayed, but also largely absent of fight, desire, character, effort, and many other basic, human qualities that every competitive team should be able to deliver without fail, this was an unquestionably sub-par display. It was eerily and painfully reminiscent of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final loss to the very same team by the very same scoreline. But this one wasn’t quite as bad.

Firstly, there were instances in which players ran. After Gary Neville’s lambasting of their walking, both Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey at least attempted to ruffle up City’s unruffled midfield. They were not at the level required, but they showed greater heart than at the weekend. Similarly, chances were created at a greater frequency and quality. There was, of course, the penalty, but beyond that, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had other opportunities, as did Aaron Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Ederson, though, was equal to them all.

But the primary reason for why I am not here to wholly lay into the Arsenal players is the quality of the opposition. That does not mean that they are absolved of criticism or blame. This was not good enough and questions must be answered and changes must come. Sometimes, however, you just have to hold your hands up and admit that the opposition were just too good. This is one of those times.

City were utterly brilliant. The tempo, intention, directness and accuracy of their passing, the positional rotation of their midfield, meaning that Arsenal could not get close to them, the fluidity, dynamism and intelligence of their movement in the final third, the ruthless, cold-blooded way in which they suffocated the Gunners and killed the game, the manner of the pressure-evading play for the third goal. This was a nigh-on perfect performance by the best team in the country.

Next: Arsenal Vs Manchester City: 5 things we learned

Yes, it was extremely disheartening to watch. Yes, the club is deserving of critique and scrutiny. And yes, Arsene Wenger will have a lot of tough, spiky questions to answer. But let’s give credit where it is due. City were fabulous, and Arsenal were far better than at Wembley. This one wasn’t nearly as bad.