Arsenal 1-3 Man City: 3 talking points as Citizens slay Gunners

Arsenal suffered a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Emirates as the title race is now advantage City. A first-half goal from Kevin De Bruyne and second-half strikes from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland secured the win.

Mikel Arteta made two changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Brentford last time out, with Takehiro Tomiyasu coming in for Ben White and Jorginho replacing the injured Thomas Partey.

Arsenal were the better side in the first half, but it was City who took advantage of a Tomiyasu error. Kevin De Bruyne lobbed it over the helpless Aaron Ramsdale entirely against the run of play.

The Gunners were then awarded a penalty just before half-time after Ederson clashed into Eddie Nketiah, with Bukayo Saka stepping up and calmly slotting home to bring Arsenal level.

It was a fantastic half for the Gunners (Tomiyasu mistake aside) as they went into the sheds level at 1-1.

City thought they had a penalty after Gabriel brought down Haaland, but the striker was ruled to be offside before the penalty was given as Arsenal dodged a bullet.

The visitors piled on the pressure in the second half and were rewarded as Jack Grealish slotted home after some good work from Ilkay Gundogan and Haaland. City doubled their lead with 10 minutes remaining as Haaland fired past Ramsdale to end the game.

The 3-1 loss marks Arsenal’s fourth consecutive game without a win, and it could not have come at a worse time. With Aston Villa up next, the form line needs to change dramatically; otherwise, this once-title race will quickly become City’s to lose.

Arsenal 1-3 Man City: 3 talking points as Citizens slay Gunners

The game provided plenty of talking points; here they are.

1. Individual mistakes hand City title ascendancy

Two costly individual mistakes cost Arsenal dearly against City. Tomiyasu’s back pass and Gabriel’s misplaced pass gifted City two of their three goals.

In what was labelled a title decider, the visitors took their chances while Arsenal missed several of their own and gifted City two goals.

Not what was needed in a game of this magnitude.

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2. Jorginho impresses

The midfielder came in for the injured Partey to start his first Arsenal game, and he slotted in seamlessly.

He was a constant outlet for the defence, was neat and tidy in possession, and broke up several key City forays forward.

A solid outing from the former Chelsea midfielder. The exact situation that Arteta brought him in for, and he didn’t let him down.

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3. Title race heats up

City now are top of the league after their win as the title race takes on a whole new look now. Arsenal had the chance to put some distance between themselves and Pep Guardiola’s side but failed to do so as individual mistakes proved extremely costly.

While Arsenal still have a game in hand, the Gunners are in a bit of a rut and they must bounce back quickly before City begin to pull away.