It was a fiery contest at the Etihad involving the reigning champions Manchester City and last season’s runners-up Arsenal as both battled for the top spot in this year’s campaign in their latest encounter on Sunday September 22.
Already four games in, Pep Guardiola’s men looked to retain their 100% perfect start to the season, taking four wins from four, with City’s talismanic striker Erling Haaland on 9 goals.
Arsenal, however, had dropped points to Brighton where they played a 2-2 draw, but Mikel Arteta’s side looked to find an answer to a 10-year problem of not winning at the Etihad.
The contest looked all City from the start, as they dominated possession. Savinho found Erling Haaland in the 9th minute, where he slotted past David Raya for City’s first of the match. This marked Haaland’s 100th goal for Manchester City.
City could not capitalize on their dominance, but after a collision with Rodrigo and Thomas Partey, and the ensuing chaos that followed, Gabriel Martinelli made away with the ball and gave it to Riccardo Calafiori, who struck a sweet left-footed volley from the left edge of City’s box to equalize for the Gunners in the 22nd minute.
Arsenal soon turned the tables around. A Bukayo Saka corner on the stroke of halftime was met powerfully by defender Gabriel Magalhães, turning the scoreline in favor of Arsenal.
Celebrations died down quickly, as soon after, Leandro Trossard was booked and sent off after he was shown a second yellow for dissent and time-wasting, leaving the Gunners with 10 men for the rest of the second half.
City then took advantage, ensuring total dominance as reflected by 26 attempts on goal in the second 45 minutes, with Haaland, Gvardiol, and Dias all looking to get City back on level terms⁴.
The sheer pressure did pay off in the 90+8th minute, where super sub-John Stones lashed the ball past Raya after it ricocheted back to him following a corner kick routine⁴.
The draw saw City move back to the top of the Premier League standings on 13 points, still unbeaten, while Arsenal moved up to 4th on 11 points.
JolibaLive News! apologizes for bringing this news report late.
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