Arsenal welcomed a wounded Manchester City to the Emirates stadium late on Sunday and got a lot more than they bargained for when De Bruyne and company showed up with mean intent.
Right from the offset, Arsenal were on the back foot, as De Bruyne started what was one of the greatest individual 45 minutes in Premier League history with a goal demonstrating great shooting skill. He then turned provider for Raheem Sterling after a swift and efficient Manchester City counter-attack, as the visitors made it 0-2 in a quarter of an hour.
Just before half time, Arsenal were made to pay for poor game management, as the ball found its way to the feet of Kevin De Bruyne, and the Belgian slotted a fiercely struck effort into the bottom corner of Bernd Leno’s net from outside the box to complete the goal involvements for the day.
A save of the season contender from Leno denied De Bruyne a wonderful first half hat-trick, as a first-time curled shot of immense precision was forced on to the woodwork by the fingertips of the German goalkeeper.
The second half was a much more mild affair, with City keen on protecting players from any further injury risks, and Arsenal both lacking creativity, and also regrettably being fouled by their City counterparts every time there seemed to be a half-chance on for them.
Reports have emerged this morning that Pep Guardiola’s number two, Mikel Arteta is ‘almost a certain’ to take over at Arsenal. That would mark a huge step in the career of the former Arsenal man and would leave a notable void in City’s backroom staff.
Poor game management: getting the basics right
There was a palpable sense of frustration around the Emirates, and indeed among the Arsenal faithful watching from their television screens as De Bruyne wheeled away in celebration after scoring his second of the night, and the cameras cut to Bukayo Saka, who was set to replace the injured Sead Kolasinac, but was not as the Bosnian international limped off.
Arsenal were down to 10 men, and the goal came from the side which Kolasinac left, and which Sako would have filled.
While bringing Sako on may not have surely prevented City’s third, it represented some of the very basics left to be desired at the club. As Mr. Daniel Storey pointed out, Kolasinac should have just stayed down till the substitute was ready to be brought on.
Playing a fluent Manchester City side is never easy, let alone defending against them a man down. A very simple point that must be addressed by the backroom staff.
Tactical fouling
Manchester City have received a lot more than their fair share of criticism for committing ‘tactical fouls’; unfairly in my honest opinion, as it is a part of the game, and although unethical, a vital basic of holding a losing battle.
However, Sunday marked a huge spike up in the frequency of these fouls. While City admittedly do commit them, they’re far spaced out in terms of time, but Sunday became the primary mode of defence whenever Arsenal looked to string four passes together in their half.
With Rodri and Gundogan both picking up needless bookings in the process, the fouls did tend to die down a little bit, but the incessant and honestly needless fouling by Kyle Walker especially left even this City fan quite irritated. One can only imagine how Nicolas Pepe would have felt, being on the receiving end of far too many of those than anyone would ever like.
We hope it was just a one-off shoot-up in the number and City will resort to them as blatantly as they did against the Gunners.
Mesut Ozil
Another ineffective performance by the German creator once again left the vast majority of Arsenal fans on social media very distraught. He did put some free-kicks into good areas, but they were cleared without any out of the ordinary defending by Fernandinho and Otamendi.
Ozil failed to press City’s midfielders whilst out of possession and did not pressurise them to look for space out wide by taking up good positions that block major passing channels. It was actually refreshing to see City – especially Phil Foden – play through the centre for significant parts instead of resorting to endless crossing, and while of course, Ozil’s lack of intensity in the press was not the sole contributor to that effect, it was an enabler.
When Arsenal’s number 10 was taken off after 58 minutes, there were a few jeers from the Emirates crowd as he walked off extremely slowly, almost having given up on Arsenal’s chances at denting Ederson’s clean sheet. He took off his gloves and gave them quite a whack, perhaps summing up the season he’s had.
A change in training under possibly Mikel Arteta could ensue soon, but as of the present, it seems both parties would benefit if Ozil found a different jersey to don, either in the summer or in January.
Minutes for Phil Foden
Mere days after scoring for City in the Champions League in Ukraine, and becoming the joint highest ‘big chance creator’ in the group stages of the CL this season (six; alongside Lionel Messi), Foden started away to a ‘big six’ side and impressed.
Although he was only allowed 55 minutes on the pitch, perhaps with a view to starting him midweek against Oxford United in the Carabao Cup, it marked the end of an excellent week for Foden, who continues to impress with each and every outing he gets.
It would be a dream for City to see their Stockport Iniesta replace arguably their greatest ever signing and player in David Silva, and if these few performances this season are anything to go by, the under 17 World Cup’s Golden Ball winner would be a candidate well and truly worthy of ascending Silva’s throne.
Had it not been for possibly De Bruyne’s best ever 45 minutes in a City shirt (narrowly edging out the performance at home to Tottenham in the 17/18 season in my personal opinion), Foden was the best player on the pitch; at ease, creating and carrying the ball, not taking any unneeded risks and not overdoing anything.
Starting next season, I think it can be safely said that every City fan would be disappointed not to see Foden be a starter on a weekly basis. Eric Garcia will hopefully follow that same path.
Up Next
City complete a trio of away games when they travel to Oxford United for the Carabao Cup tie scheduled for Wednesday evening. Arsenal will face a rejuvenated Everton side next weekend at Goodison Park in the league.
