Match ends, Arsenal 0, Manchester City 3.
ArsenalArsenal0Man CityManchester City3
Manchester City are "close" to winning the Premier League title after comprehensively beating Arsenal for the second time in five days, says manager Pep Guardiola.
Goals from Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane at Emirates Stadium extended City's lead at the top of the table to 16 points.
With 10 games remaining, they need five victories to secure the title.
"It's in our hands, we can't deny it," Guardiola said.
"These are the last steps to be champions. You keep going until the end."
After beating the Gunners 3-0 in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, City dominated in a toxic atmosphere in a stadium featuring large areas of empty seats.
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring in the 15th minute, beautifully curling in a left-footed strike into the far corner after Sane's mazy run.
David Silva finished off a fine team move in the 28th minute for City's second before Sane did the same five minutes later.
Arsenal had the opportunity to cut the deficit shortly after half-time but Ederson saved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's penalty.
"We played with low confidence, you could see that at the start of the game and we paid for it," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said.
"We lost to a team that is the best in the country at the moment."
City's victory - in Guardiola's 100th game at the club - extended their lead over second-placed Manchester United, while Arsenal stay sixth, 10 points off the top four.
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Sensational City reaffirm gulf in class
City were clinical on Sunday in securing Guardiola's first trophy at the club, although Wenger suggested the game was closer than the 3-0 scoreline suggested.
At the Emirates, particularly in the first half, City were at their free-flowing best and Wenger could have no complaints.
Sane dribbled past four defenders for the opening goal before Bernardo Silva's accurate finish and the hosts looked helpless in attempting to prevent the following two goals.
For the second, Sane, Sergio Aguero and David Silva combined brilliantly and the Spaniard calmly fired past Petr Cech.
The third then came at the end of a flowing move with Kyle Walker squaring to German Sane from in behind the left side of Arsenal's defence.
"Mentally we were strong. We were clinical. We scored three outstanding goals," Guardiola said.
"It is never easy if you are not focused against teams like Arsenal.
"We were [focused] and so far we have made an amazing Premier League season."
Guardiola's side are 30 points clear of Arsenal and, with their 16-point lead over Manchester United restored, could win the title in a little over a month when they face their city rivals on 7 April.
If they were to win the title that weekend it would be the earliest the Premier League title has ever been won.
Things only get worse for Wenger
Wenger was prickly in response to questions about his Arsenal future before the game and the result and performance will have done little to silence those questions.
The match was played in front of tens of thousands of empty seats in north London, surely not all as a result of the snowy weather.
Many of those who did attend booed after City's third goal, at half-time, at full-time and when passes went astray, while there were ironic cheers when Cech claimed a catch at one point in the first half.
Nicolas Otamendi's foul on Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the Gunners slim hope of a comeback in the 53rd minute but the miss from the spot by record signing Aubameyang ended any chance of a contest.
Arsenal have now lost seven times in 2018 and their only route back into the Champions League looks to be winning the Europa League.
They have gone 10 games without a clean sheet in the Premier League, their longest run in the competition since February 2002.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown described it as a "sad evening" for Wenger on BBC Radio 5 live, adding that the Gunners were "outplayed and outfought".
There were chants of "there's only one Arsene Wenger" from the stands in the final stages but, to add to the Frenchman's misery, those appeared to come from the visiting fans.
"[City] took advantage of our lack of confidence," Wenger said. "We're going through a difficult period, they're going through a period where all goes well for them.
"When your confidence is not at the best, the first thing that goes is your fluidity in the movement, the spontaneous side of the game.
"You could see that tonight. I don't deny their quality because they have top quality, but we're going through a difficult patch at the moment. That's part of football as well unfortunately."
Classic Pep on landmark night
Guardiola has now won 69 of his 100 games in charge of City and the first-half performance was one of the best he has overseen, although he denied it afterwards.
The football was spectacular but they also showcased their clinical finishing and have scored nine goals from just 13 shots on target against Arsenal this season.
Guardiola has won one trophy this season, has all but sealed another and will also be eyeing the club's first Champions League title.
Interestingly the Spaniard's record after 100 games in Manchester is actually worse than his starts in previous jobs with Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
City have fewer wins, more defeats, have scored fewer goals and have conceded more than Guardiola's sides in Germany and Spain.
| Guardiola's record after 100 games | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | Bayern Munich | Manchester City | |
| Wins | 71 | 77 | 69 |
| Defeats | 10 | 11 | 13 |
| Goals scored | 242 | 265 | 236 |
| Goals conceded | 76 | 69 | 92 |
Man of the match - Leroy Sane (Manchester City)
Home woe for Arsenal - the best stats
- Arsenal suffered their joint-heaviest home Premier League defeat, having also lost by three-goal margins to Coventry (1993), Middlesbrough (2001) and Chelsea (twice in 2009).
- Manchester City have now scored more Premier League goals this season (82) than they scored in the entirety of last season (80).
- This was Manchester City's biggest away win at Arsenal in any competition since a 4-0 triumph in November 1912.
- David Silva is only the third David to score on St David's Day in the Premier League, after David Dunn (Blackburn v Man City in 2003) and David Luiz (Chelsea v Man Utd in 2011).
- This was the first time Arsenal conceded three goals in the first half of a home league game since March 1989 against Nottingham Forest.
- Sergio Aguero has had a hand in 14 goals in his past nine Premier League starts (11 goals, three assists).
- Man City have saved 11 of the past 19 penalties they have faced in all competitions (excluding penalty shootouts), with Ederson saving three of the five he has faced this season, including both in the Premier League (also against Crystal Palace).
What's next?
Manchester City's next match sees them face Chelsea on Sunday (16:00 GMT) at Etihad Stadium. Arsenal travel to play Chris Hughton's Brighton earlier the same day (13:30).
Line-ups
Arsenal
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 33Cech
- 24Bellerín
- 20Mustafi
- 6Koscielny
- 31KolasinacBooked at 32mins
- 8Ramsey
- 29Xhaka
- 7Mkhitaryan
- 11Özil
- 23Welbeck
- 14Aubameyang
Substitutes
- 13Ospina
- 16Holding
- 17Iwobi
- 21Chambers
- 30Maitland-Niles
- 35Elneny
- 62Nketiah
Man City
Formation 4-3-3
- 31Ederson
- 2WalkerSubstituted forZinchenkoat 72'minutes
- 4Kompany
- 30OtamendiBooked at 19mins
- 3Danilo
- 17De Bruyne
- 8Gündogan
- 21SilvaSubstituted forGabriel Jesusat 87'minutes
- 20Bernardo Silva
- 10AgüeroSubstituted forY Touréat 82'minutes
- 19Sané
Substitutes
- 1Bravo
- 5Stones
- 14Laporte
- 33Gabriel Jesus
- 35Zinchenko
- 42Y Touré
- 47Foden
- Referee:
- Andre Marriner
- Attendance:
- 58,420
Match Stats
Home TeamArsenalAway TeamMan City
- Possession
- Home46%
- Away54%
- Shots
- Home10
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away5
- Corners
- Home6
- Away1
- Fouls
- Home11
- Away11
Live Text
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Full Time
Second Half ends, Arsenal 0, Manchester City 3.
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Foul by Leroy Sané (Manchester City).
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Bernardo Silva.
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Foul by Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City).
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Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt blocked. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Attempt blocked. Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
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Foul by Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City).
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Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Gabriel Jesus replaces David Silva.
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Foul by Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City).
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Mesut Özil (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Yaya Touré replaces Sergio Agüero.
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Attempt saved. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ilkay Gündogan.
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Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal).
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Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal).
Comments
Join the conversation
The attendance was terrible.
Try being a City fan when United were winning for years and City were shocking and fighting double relegations.
Support your team through thick and thin not just in the good times.
It's a sad time for us Gunners, the fight was actually there tonight, but no real luck.
I feel for Wenger, but with attendance so low (no way near 58,000 stated), it's first time I've openly admitted maybe it's time to move on...
Gulf oil machine
1. Distracted by the shiny glare from 1000’s of empty seats ?
2. New signings cost HOW MUCH ?
3. Ball wasn’t round enough ?
AFC = Abysmal Failing Clowns !!!
ABSOLUTE DISGRACE
I'm crying out for silverware, but it's not that easy
Whoever you support, football is about progress
I am no fan of AFC, but the cataclysmic regression under AW leaves you pitying the club & the fans...
Surely somebody, somewhere, can tell him it's time to step by
A proud man but this is becoming a death by a thousand cuts
The Goons were having dig a Spurs for not turning out last night for a forgone conclusion, tonight when Farcinal really needed them
Only 19 000 bothered to turn up, absolute disgrace
Prof Wenger needs more time to sort this out, it’s only 4 consecutive defeats
I loved the Arsenal of old, Viera, Pires, Bergkamp, Overmars. As a neutral I loved the spectacle of this side, genuinely. You have to feel sad for people so down.
Good luck Arsenal
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
Arsenal diving all over the pitch or the lack of fight from these players over the two games.
Still, full house turned up to see it I suppose ;-)