Arsenal Vs Manchester City: 5 things we learned – Guendouzi lone bright spark

2. Final-third hiccups

Arsenal’s issue, for me, stemmed more from their wasteful play in the final third, rather than lapse defending at the other end. The goals were well-crafted moves with clinical finishes, many of the chances that City created came from their quality, not Arsenal’s mistakes, and there was a clear shape and structure that Unai Emery was trying to implement. It was their loose play with the ball that invited the pressure from City, not what they did without it.

Largely at fault were Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Neither played well. Poor touches, wayward passes, poor decisions made, a lack of ingenuity and inspiration, an over-eagerness to force it then subsided with a conservative patience that killed any momentum a counter-attack may have had.

When Alexandre Lacazette came on in the second half, things improved, but there was no clinical streak when chances presented themselves. Ozil’s touch and first-time finish let him down in the second half. Mkhitaryan couldn’t get his feet sorted out in the first half. Lacazette fired wide from the edge of the area off a half-volley. Simply, there was a lack of sharpness in the attack. Hopefully, it will come with time.