It was a smooth ride for Champions, Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime kickoff at the Etihad as they easily saw off Arsenal in a 5-0 romping to condemn the Gunners to their third straight loss this season.
Arsenal, who are yet to score a goal in the league season looked to have turned the corner when they thrashed a depleted West Bromwich Albion side 6-0 at midweek, but they seem to have reverted to their default mode in the league.
The visitors looked like they had something to offer in the opening seconds, trying to heap pressure on the city defence, but it just felt like the spark of a wet match stick that cannot lit a fire.
Manchester City wasted no time to state their intention as they took the lead as early as the 7th minute. An Ilkay Gundogan header from a Gabriel Jesus cross from the right went past Bernd Leno before he could react.
Gundogan should have gotten his second goal, again with a header just three minutes later. Leno reacted quickly this time to allow Rob Holding finally clear the danger before Jesus could pounce.
City were determined to quickly kill the game off as they got their second two minutes later. A horrible defending from Arsenal saw all players miss the ball from a Bernando Silva cross into the area, allowing Ferran Torres unmarked at the far post to score an easy tap in.
Ederson almost gave Arsenal a chance back into the game, a goal that may have changed the outcome of the encounter, but the ball curled just away from goal after he was closed down by Emile Smith Rowe and hit the midfielder with his clearance.
It went from bad to worse for Arsenal as Granit Xhaka, not surprisingly got his matching orders for a silly tackle in the 35th minute on Joao Cancelo. It looked like the contact was minimal, the intent, however, looked dangerous.
City went into the break three goals up as Gabriel Jesus finally finds his own goal with two minutes to play in the first half. A nice work by Jack Grealish off the left flank ended with a cross from the Englishman to the Brazilian, who slid to control the ball, before hitting a low strike with his left foot.
The hosts were in no pity mood as they almost got a fourth immediately after the restart, only for Silva to be denied by Leno. The German stopper would, however, not deny Rodri Hernandez a beautiful curling effort minutes later to score City's fourth.
Arsenal definitely have Leno to thank for keeping the scoreline low.
Raheem Sterling should have gotten a couple between the 66th and 68th minute, but was first, denied by Leno, before himself firing wide off goal.
Off the bench, Riyad Mahrez provided the assist for the last goal of the game and the second on the afternoon for Torres who headed downwards towards goal from a Mahrez cross.
This means Arsenal have lost all three opening league games of the season and are yet to score.
Concluding Thoughts
Manchester City has looked unplayable by this team over the years as they have kept four consecutive clean sheets against the Gunners in league meetings, a total of six in their last seven encounters.
Pep Guardiola's men, perhaps, found it was easier to beat this Arsenal side than they did Norwich last week, with 81-19% possession.
To say that Arteta's job is under threat is an understatement and rumors have already emerged of former Chelsea boss, Antonio Conte being lined up in the eventuality of Arteta's sack.
It definitely was a frustrating sight for Arsenal fans as their team continues to reel out horrible performances, coupled with indiscipline. Xhaka's red card was their 10th since Arteta took over in what is less than two years of his reign.
They could could barely string passes together for long, managing just one shot in the entire game, which was off target and they currently sit at the bottom of the log with a -9 goal difference.
They will need a miracle to finish in the top half. The team better prepare their mind for another season outside Europe.
Comments