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Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards claimed that the Cityzens' habit of grinding out results in their favor from close matches is bound to frustrate Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
City earned a narrow 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on March 11. Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the match in the 78th minute from the penalty spot.
Haaland made no mistake in finding the back of the net after Michael Olise brought down Ilkay Gundogan inside the penalty area. This was the Norwegian's 28th league goal in his 26th league match this season.
With the win, City have reduced the points gap between themselves and Arsenal to two points. However, the Gunners are set to face Fulham at Craven Cottage on March 12, where they will have the opportunity to re-establish their five-point advantage.
Speaking after the match, Richards said (via Metro):
"Man City have not been at their best but they’re managing to win games. If I go back to the time I was in a title race, you would watch the other games, Arsenal would have watched that tonight. City not playing at their best but still getting the three points through a late penalty, that’s demoralising at times."
He expanded on his own experience of competing for the title against Manchester United and said:
"Our title race was against Man United and that psychological battle going around in your head is really tough."
Manchester City currently have 61 points on the board after 27 matches. The Gunners, meanwhile, have 63 points from 26 games.
When will Arsenal and Manchester City face each other in the Premier League?
Arsenal and Manchester City have faced off only once in the Premier League so far this season. The Cityzens won the match at the Emirates by a scoreline of 3-1 on February 16.
Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, and Erling Haaland were the scorers for Pep Guardiola's team while Bukayo Saka scored from the penalty spot for the Gunners.
The two teams are set to lock horns on April 26 at the Etihad. Given the closely contested nature of the Premier League title race between the two teams, and the timing of the clash, the match is expected to have massive implications in terms of deciding the winner of the league.
