Arsenal delivered a stunning second-half display at the Emirates Stadium, overwhelming Manchester City with a 5-1 victory that sends a clear message to Liverpool: the Premier League title race is far from decided. This win served as sweet revenge for the earlier 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium that had left a bitter taste for the Gunners.
The match got off to a lightning start, with Martin Ødegaard scoring just 103 seconds in. City defender Manuel Akanji lost possession near his own box to Leandro Trossard, who then set up Declan Rice. Rice assisted Kai Havertz, who squared the ball for Ødegaard to slot home. Remarkably, Arsenal had only completed two passes before Rice received the ball, making the assist from Havertz only their fourth successful pass of the match.
Midway through the first half, Havertz had a chance to extend the lead after another defensive blunder from City. With a clear sight of goal in the 26th minute, his shot narrowly missed the target after Rice intercepted a loose pass from Phil Foden.
Arsenal’s lead held until the 55th minute when Erling Haaland found the net with a header from Savinho’s expertly delivered cross. This marked Haaland’s 250th career goal, accomplished with just his ninth touch of the match. However, Arsenal responded swiftly, reclaiming the lead just 105 seconds later. Thomas Partey’s long-range effort took a significant deflection off John Stones, catching goalkeeper Stefan Ortega off guard, marking Partey’s third Premier League goal of the season.
The Gunners then extended their lead to 3-1 with a brilliant strike from promising talent Myles Lewis-Skelly, who scored his first goal for the club after cutting inside and firing a powerful shot past Ortega. At just 18 years and 129 days, Lewis-Skelly became the fourth youngest scorer in Arsenal’s Premier League history, following in the footsteps of Ethan Nwaneri, Cesc Fàbregas, and Serge Gnabry.
In the 76th minute, Havertz added another for Arsenal, finishing off a swift counter-attack initiated in their own half. Gabriel Martinelli found him with a well-timed pass, allowing Havertz to net his 15th competitive goal of the season, a personal best since his time at Bayer Leverkusen in 2019-20.
Nwaneri capped off the emphatic win in stoppage time with a spectacular curled effort, sealing the score at 5-1 and deepening City’s woes.
This victory marks Arsenal’s unbeaten streak at 14 matches in the Premier League (W9 D5), the longest under Mikel Arteta and equalling their previous longest run from December 2018 under Unai Emery. With City now nine points behind Arsenal and 15 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, the prospect of City securing a fifth consecutive title appears dim. The pressing question remains whether Arsenal can close the gap to Liverpool and claim their first league title since 2004.
Post-Match Highlights:
– Arsenal has achieved an unbeaten run of 14 consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since December 2018.
– Manchester City experienced their largest defeat in an away Premier League match since January 2017, while Arsenal celebrated their biggest win against the reigning champions.
– This season, City has conceded four or more goals in a match four times, marking a record under Pep Guardiola, with a total of 53 goals conceded across all competitions.
– The Citizens have made eight errors leading to goals in the Premier League this season, the highest tally in a campaign under Guardiola.
