London, Feb 15 (BNA): Manchester City’s clinical side dethroned Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, with second-half goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland sealing a 3-1 victory in a top-of-the-table clash. Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
Arsenal had come from a goal down and looked able to end a 10-game losing streak in the league against City but they fell short in the end as their hopes of winning their first league title since 2004 suffered a setback.
Mikel Arteta’s team, which has been leading the standings since August, responded strongly after Kevin De Bruyne’s opening goal in the 24th minute and deservedly equalized from a penalty kick from Bukayo Saka, Reuters reported.
But they struggled to stay strong after the break, barely helping themselves with a series of errors.
The video assistant referee ruled out a penalty for City, but they continued to investigate and took the lead when Grealish hit his third league goal of the season in the 72nd minute.
Then Haaland scored his 26th league goal this season to silence the home fans and put Pep Guardiola’s team on 51 points, the same as Arsenal, but with a superior goal difference.
Arsenal’s first home defeat of the season looked like a pivotal moment in the title race, although with a game in hand they are still in great contention.
After picking up just one point from their last three games, they need to restart quickly.
“If you miss three goals the way we did, it gives them the game,” Arteta said. “It’s a shame because we already achieved it.”
“The margin of error against them is almost zero. We’ve done a lot of simple things wrong.”
Guardiola said his team had been “weak” in the first half but praised the way they advanced.
“They were better than us in the first half, but we advanced in the second half and we are still in it, and in the end the quality of the players made the difference,” he said.
Arteta pulled off an upset by picking Takehiro Tomiyasu ahead of Ben White at right-back while Jorginho replaced the injured Thomas Partey in his first start since arriving from Chelsea in the January transfer window.
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Arteta’s decision blew in the face as Japan international Tomiyasu was pressured into a woeful backpass by Grealish and De Bruyne latched on to it before sending a perfect silky touch past the stranded Aaron Ramsdale.
Far from eliminating Arsenal, the hosts responded by dominating their midfield as City looked disoriented and strangely bent on wasting time.
Tomiyasu shot more and Saka had another chance but he delayed his shot too long.
In the 39th minute, Eddie Nketiah, who had earlier headed a shot wide, fired a shot across the goal before it was deflected off by City goalkeeper Ederson.
Nathan Ake kicked the ball wide of the line but referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot after Ederson’s foul and Saka calmly kicked the penalty past the Brazilian.
City almost regained the lead in first-half injury time when Ruben Dias’ header was flicked onto the crossbar by Ake.
Surprisingly, Arsenal self-destructed after the break and fell behind once when Gabriel backed away from Haaland to award a penalty, but the VAR ruled that the Norwegian was offside.
Nketiah was inches away from giving Arsenal the lead when he slid in trying to connect with a low cross but City began to take control as Arsenal faded.
Gabriel was guilty of bouncing the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and was robbed by Bernardo Silva before Haaland’s pass reached Grealish who shot past Ramsdal.
This time there was no response from Arsenal and Haaland, who had been suspected of injury before the match, secured victory with a usually ruthless finish with eight minutes left.
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