Arsenal thrashed Manchester City 5-1 at a buoyant Emirates Stadium to send Mikel Arteta’s side back within six points of Liverpool.
Premier League leaders Liverpool had raised the pressure by beating Bournemouth on Saturday but Arsenal offered up a statement victory in reply to pile more misery on the struggling champions.
Substitute Ethan Nwaneri’s stunning goal in stoppage time, curled into the corner after cutting inside from the right, completed the rout and came after fellow academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly had scored Arsenal’s third with his first at senior level.
Player ratings: Rice the star man
Arsenal: Raya (8), Timber (7), Saliba (7), Gabriel (7), Lewis-Skelly (8), Partey (8), Rice (9), Odegaard (8), Martinelli (8), Havertz (8), Trossard (7).
Subs: Nwaneri (8), Merino (7), Calafiori (n/a), Sterling (n/a)
Man City: Ortega (5), Nunes (5), Stones (4), Akanji (3), Gvardiol (5), Kovacic (5), Bernardo (5), Foden (4), Marmoush (6), Savinho (7), Haaland (7).
Subs: De Bruyne (6), McAtee (6).
Player of the Match: Declan Rice
Lewis-Skelly celebrated in the style of Erling Haaland, who had earlier pulled Manchester City level following Martin Odegaard’s second-minute opener but who the home fans relished taunting following the explosive scenes in the 2-2 draw in September.
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Myles Lewis-Skelly copied Erling Haaland’s celebration after extending Arsenal’s lead
City were only level for 105 seconds after Haaland nodded in Savinho’s cross, with Thomas Partey instantly cutting out a woeful Phil Foden pass and sending a deflected shot past Stefan Ortega.
Manchester City proceeded to completely collapse, with Lewis-Skelly driving into the box and adding the third goal before Kai Havertz, who had missed a glaring chance in the first half, fired clinically into the corner for Arsenal’s fourth.
The home fans were already celebrating in preparation for the final whistle when an incredible afternoon got even better for them, Nwaneri cushioning a long, diagonal pass from the excellent Declan Rice and finding the corner in brilliant style.
Arsenal had needed big saves from David Raya to deny Josko Gvardiol and Savinho in the first half but the visitors had no reply to the second-half onslaught as they suffered their heaviest away Premier League defeat since a 4-0 loss to Everton in 2017.
They have conceded four or more goals on four separate occasions this season, which is the most in a single campaign in Guardiola’s managerial career.
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Jamie Carragher says the ongoing needle between Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhaes will only grow
Their latest loss leaves them nine points behind Arsenal in fourth place, while the Gunners close the gap on Liverpool, who have a game in hand to come against Everton.
Arsenal show ‘fire’ and relish taunting Haaland
The animosity between the two sides spilled over in the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium in September, during which Haaland taunted the young Lewis-Skelly. “It was like he was going to eat him,” said Sky Sports’ Gary Neville on co-commentary at the time.
Image: Myles Lewis-Skelly does the Haaland celebration after making it 3-1
Lewis-Skelly’s celebration, after scoring Arsenal’s third goal on Sunday, seemed a direct response to that taunt and Gabriel also enjoyed the opportunity to get one over on the Norwegian striker, celebrating in his face after Odegaard’s opening goal.
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A new footballing rivalry explained…
Haaland’s comments to Arteta to “stay humble” after that game in September were thrown back at him by the home fans, while Rice admitted Arsenal’s players were motivated by their last meeting.
“To win 5-1 is an unbelievable scoreline,” Rice told Sky Sports. “We had fire in our bellies from what happened at the Etihad at the start of the season, we really wanted to amend that. I think we did.
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Declan Rice admits ‘bad blood’ between Arsenal and Man City has been building
“It was an even game up until the third goal. They posed a threat, had a lot of the ball. We had to sit deep. Even though we won 5-1, Man City are a top team.
“It’s been building up over a certain amount of time,” he added of the rivalry. “They nicked the title off Arsenal when I wasn’t here and then they beat us to the title.
“It’s been hard to accept that and then everything that went on at the Etihad, you do get that fire in your stadium. The boys are buzzing. We are still off the top and that’s where we want to be.”
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Pep Guardiola gives his reaction to Myles Lewis-Skelly emulating Erling Haaland’s celebration
Guardiola was cryptic on Arsenal’s celebrations in his press conference, saying “that’s good” sarcastically when told about Lewis-Skelly’s celebration and adding, “Did you like my answer?” as he left the room.
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Henry: Haaland didn’t do enough
Haaland scored Manchester City’s equaliser from his only shot on goal and only touched the ball nine times all game, with Thierry Henry unimpressed by his contribution in the Sky Sports studio.
“I wouldn’t have been able to cope – something would have happened, I would have gone to get it, touch it back, do something.
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Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher debate Erling Haaland’s performance
“It’s a skill, David Trezeguet had it that even though he didn’t touch the ball he could stay concentrated and put the ball in the net.
“What can you do when your team can’t help you? Can you run into the channels? Can you be available?
“If you’re not moving so much when your team is on the ball or taking care of the ball, it’s not enough. But he will still score when he plays like that and he did.”
Stones: Our pride is hurt
John Stones found it difficult to describe City’s emotions afterwards, telling Sky Sports: “We don’t take losing well, it’s hard for me to put into words.
“Our pride is hurt, we’re sorry to the fans who came to watch that last 30 minutes. It was not acceptable.
“As a collective, it’s not us – it’s not nice to be involved in that. Credit to Arsenal. They played really well against us.”
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Pep Guardiola was unhappy with how Man City’s performance level dropped
Guardiola agreed with Stones’ assessment in his press conference. “We can learn, there are margins to get better,” he said.
“It’s difficult when you lose 5-1, there’s no defence. But the game was well played. Arsenal, I know how many teams defend deep after 90 minutes.
“We had the composure to play. The third goal affected us and we stopped what we were doing for 60 minutes.
“It happens. It’s football. There are a lot of goals. It happens. I don’t like it, I’m a bit sad. But it’s time to continue. We have a long week, we learn from that again. I know the players want to do it.”
Arteta: It’s a great day for us
Arsenal boss Arteta lauded Arsenal’s efforts in his press conference: “It’s a great day for us, for the result, for the manner that we’ve done it, and especially against the level of opposition that we played today.
“To beat them in the manner that we’ve done, a lot of things have to go your way, but we were very aggressive, we played with a lot of courage, we went without the ball, and our high press, where the limits are really, really thin.
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Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal players and described their performance as ruthless after they comprehensively beat Manchester City
“We scored a goal, should have scored another one, clearly. They are so good that even if you don’t want to, sometimes you just have to stay deep, and defend deep, and suffer, and enjoy those moments as well.
“We had a bit of luck in certain moments, and then we had the opportunity, I think our intentions, our aggression with the ball, how we wanted to hurt them, and the way we finished the actions was exceptional.”
Arteta matches Tuchel, Klopp feat
- Arsenal have gone unbeaten in 14 consecutive Premier League games (W9 D5) for the first time since December 2018 under Unai Emery (also a run of 14).
- Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lost nine of his first 10 managerial meetings with Pep Guardiola (W1) but after today’s win, he has become only the third manager to go five games unbeaten in all competitions against the Spaniard (W2 D3), after Thomas Tuchel (2016-2021) and Jurgen Klopp (2021-2022).
- Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri (17y 318d) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (18y 129d) became the youngest players to score in the Premier League against the reigning champions since Wayne Rooney netted for Everton against Arsenal in March 2003 (17y 150d).
- Only Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney (nine each) have scored more goals for a Premier League side while aged 17 or younger than Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri (7).
Story of the match in stats…
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