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Manchester City beat Arsenal 3-1 in a Premier League match at the Etihad last night. City now have 59 points from 25 matches and trail Liverpool by 2 points. Liverpool, however, have a game in hand and would be able to extend their lead to 5 points if they are able to beat West Ham tonight.
Arsenal, meanwhile, slipped to sixth with 47 points from 25 matches and would have to fight very hard for a top-4 finish. Manchester United, who have 48 points from as many matches, are already above Arsenal and would fancy their own chances of finishing inside the top 4.
Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick yesterday against Arsenal, who pulled one-back through Laurent Koscielny. The title race is likely to go down the wire, as City do not seem to be in a mood to surrender their chances. We now take a look at the three reasons why City won the match yesterday:
1. Aguero’s clinical form:
Aguero is definitely among the most lethal strikers in the world and again showed his class against the Gunners yesterday. He now has scored 19 goals for City this season and also took his overall tally for them to 219 goals from 320 matches. Aguero opened the scoring in the very first minute of the match with a diving header inside the Arsenal penalty box.
He again scored in the 44th minute through a tap-in, as Raheem Sterling found him with a neat pass inside the box. He has this uncanny ability of being in goal-scoring positions most of the time. Aguero again scored in the second half to complete his hattrick and secure the win against Arsenal
City have a grinding schedule for the next one month or so, as they would vie for top honours in the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup as well. Aguero would have to maintain his wonderful form if City are to have any realistic chance of winning silverware this season. Aguero still has a few years left in him to play at the top level, and might yet help City win a few more trophies in the upcoming seasons.
2. City’s tactical flexibility and superiority in midfield:
City played with a 3-5-2 formation yesterday, which became 3-6-1 at times, as Kevin De Bruyne kept switching from attack to midfield and vice-versa. Moreover, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva played as the left and right wing-backs respectively, which came as a major surprise. City packed their midfield with players like De Bruyne, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, and dominated proceedings on the pitch.
City also had 59% ball-possession in the match and had 12 shots on target against Arsenal’s meagre return of two. Arsenal’s defenders fought hard, but could not stop the City players from creating genuine goal-scoring opportunities.
Ilkay Gundogan’s wonderful chip to Raheem Sterling led to City’s second goal. It was Sterling’s ninth assist of the season. He had yet another fantastic match and De Bruyne was as influential as ever.
City’s tactical flexibility and depth in the squad allows Pep Guardiola to experiment with different formations and line-ups. They were simply too good for the Gunners last night and kept the title race alive.
3. City’s defence held firm:
City played Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte as the right and left centre-backs respectively as the experienced Nicolas Otamendi played at the centre of the defence. Their three-man defence was frequently supported by defensive midfielder Fernandinho, who played as a de-facto centre-back at times. Whenever Fernandinho fell back to support the defence, Walker and Laporte stretched to the wings to adopt a 4-5-1 formation.
Arsenal scored from a corner kick to equalize in the first half, but could not score from open play against a solid City defence. Both Laporte and Walker were phenomenal and did not allow Arsenal forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubemyang to penetrate through the flanks.
The tactical discipline and positional awareness of the City defenders was noteworthy last night, as they kept the Arsenal forwards at bay. City still had defenders like John Stones, Vincent Kompany and Danilo on the bench, and one has to appreciate the sheer depth of their squad.
