Manchester City came from a goal behind at Arsenal to grab their 10th straight league victory against the Gunners who didn't go down without a fight for the first time in a long while.
Bukayo Saka had put the home side ahead in a much dominating first half display by the North London club, but a penalty from Riyad Mahrez and a late goal from Rodri Hernandez ensured that the visitors ended the New Year Day 11 points clear of their closest rival.
With Mikel Arteta out isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, his assistant, Albert Stuivenberg took charge of the team on the touchline, assisted by Carlos Cuesta and just one change was made to the team from their win against Norwich on Boxing Day. Takehiro Tomiyasu returning to the team after recovering from Covid-19, meaning Rob Holing dropped to the bench and Ben White moved back into the center of defence, having played at right back against Norwich.
Three changes were made by Pep Guardiola with Rodri getting the nod ahead of Fernandinho, while Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez also started for the Blues.
Arsenal had penalty shouts in the 11th minute when Martin Odegaard was set up by Alexandre Lacazette before being brought down under a challenge from Ederson Moraes, but VAR saw nothing wrong with the tackle and only a corner kick was given.
A few minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli called his compatriot into action with a low drive at the near post which the goalkeeper smothered. He didn't have answer, however, to the next Arsenal attack as the Gunners took the lead and went into the break ahead.
One of the numerous counterattacking moves by Arsenal on the day as they switched play to the left. Kieran Tierney had a lot of space to run into and he did well to send a low cross into the box, where Saka was arriving to sweep a low shot into the bottom right corner of Ederson's goal.
A frenzy 10 minutes at the start of the second half changed the face of the game for Arsenal. Granit Xhaka pulled down Bernando Silva in the box and a penalty was given following VAR review after referee Stuart Atwell initially waved the claims off. Mahrez stepped up after a long wait to send into the right corner.
It was almost an instant response from Arsenal, thanks to a mix up at the back for City as Ruben Dias sends a back pass header over Ederson with the balling rolling slowly into the net. His blushes was saved by Nathan Ake who read the danger on time and made a last dicth slide to keep the ball out, which fell straight to Martinelli, but the Brazilian could only guide his first time left-footed effort against the outside of the post.
Leading up to the penalty, Gabriel Maghaeles was booked for scuffing the penalty spot and two minutes later, he was sent off for another foul on Gabriel Jesus in the centre circle.
Odeegard was sacrificed to bring on Holding to shore up the defence and understandably, the game was one-sided to City going forward. They had to nonetheless, wait until the third minute of additional time to get the win as Arsenal failed to clear their lines and Rodrin swept home for the three points.
My Review
I'd like to start by mentioning that it was the best performance I have seen from Arsenal in a very long while, especially against this same City side who have turned meetings with them to a stroll in the park. That performance would have been a match winning one against any other side.
In fact, in the five meetings between both teams under Guardiola, City have scored as early as the first 15 minutes in all and more recently in the last two seasons, they have scored within the first two minutes. So, I was very particular about the first 15 minutes and when Arsenal were able to pull through, I knew something was different about this encounter.
Arsenal were by a wide margin the better team in the first half and while I wouldn't like to apportion blames, I'd say a level of selfish play from Gabriel Martinelli had cost his team plenty. He had a couple of chances in the first half when he could have passed to a teammate who was better positioned to score, but decided to go by himself. I was shocked Lacazette didn't tear into him in one of those occasions. Well, if it had worked for him, perhaps we would be talking differently, but here we are.
Again Arsenal were the architect of their own misfortunes on the day starting from Granit Xhaka. That foul on Bernando Silva was very needless and clumsy. This is one aspect of Xhaka's game that I've always dreaded. I was on the edge throughout fearing he'd get sent off again after seeing red in the first half of the reverse fixture earlier in the season when Arsenal eventually lost 5-0. Why would you pull someone's shirt so glaringly in the box like that?Silva was obviously going down already, but pulling his shirt just gave the referee a reason to award the penalty. He could have even pulled when they were still close together as it wasn't glaring at first, which was why referee Stuart Atwell waved off the claim initially before the VAR review. That was the beginning of Arsenal's problems.
For Gabriel Maghaeles who has been in impressive form this season, the red card was a needless one. I think he and Xhaka are on the same pedestal when it comes to being sent off in games and making some clumsy challenges. Both yellow cards were highly unwarranted. He had no business scuffing the penalty spot and the foul on Gabriel Jesus was very much needless. Jesus was still miles away from goal and his teammates could have recovered to help out.
That said about the Arsenal team, I feel the officiating was a bit titled against Arsenal as the referee was easy to go into his pocket whenever Arsenal committed a foul. There were fouls by the City players that didn't look good, but went unbooked. These are the double standards that get to ruin this game.
While Arsenal lost their mind in that crazy 10 minutes, it felt good to see them after the game looking downcast with the loss and the fans did well to appreciate them with a resounding clap and ovation. That is how you lose games and easily against another team, that performance would have been a win.
Man of the match for me was Thomas Partey. That was the best performance I've seen from the Ghanaian since that his first game against Manchester United. Sadly, it wasn't one that ended in a win for his team and he'd be sorely missed by Arsenal as he looked to have found his fitness and cemented his place in the team. Perhaps, it would be unfair for Arsenal to pray that Ghana don't go far at the AFCON.
I believe strongly that with Manchester City out of Arsenal's calendar for this season, the Gunners stand a very good chance of winning any game going forward if they continue with this high level of performance, of course without the kind of 10-minute loss of mind. The only challenge I think they might have is Liverpool. For Chelsea, it would be a balanced game.
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