Manchester City’s 1-5 hammering at the hands of Arsenal in a Premier League match last Sunday, February 2, was almost catastrophic from the club’s point of view.
Pep Guardiola’s men have looked ordinary for quite some time now, but their lack of desire and application against a motivated Arsenal team was a sorry sight for their supporters.
Erling Haaland managed to equalize for the Cityzens after Arsenal had taken the lead early, but the latter then scored four times in the second half to render a knock-out blow to the defending champions.
Arsenal have 50 points from 24 matches now, while Manchester City have 41.
City still remain inside the top four but will have to play considerably better than they did against Arsenal to remain in that position.
Manchester City Defence Harassed by Arsenal’s High Press
The Gunners employed the high press against Manchester City from the get-go, as Manuel Akanji lost the ball in the early stages of the match, which led to Martin Ødegaard’s goal.
Stefan Ortega struggled with his distribution repeatedly in the face of Arsenal’s high press.
It was not until the Cityzens started playing through the press by playing long balls to the opposition half that they got back into the match.
Manchester City played without a full-back in a hybrid role for a change, which meant that they had Bernardo Silva partnering Mateo Kovačić in the double-pivot in a 3-2-4-1.
However, Matheus Nunes looked uncomfortable both while defending as well as delivering crosses as the right-back.
The situation became a bit better on the opposite flank when Joško Gvardiol made overlapping runs to allow Savinho to move inside.
The concerning thing for the reigning champions was that Phil Foden, starting in a central position, sent in the 22 highest number of crosses into the Arsenal box in the first half.
The visitors switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation when Gvardiol played as a left-back.
Still, only Savinho showed the intent to get into the Arsenal box repeatedly, with Haaland being marked closely by Gabriel inside it and Omar Marmoush looking more comfortable playing in the wide areas on the left.
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A Nightmare for the Visitors
The equalizer did not come in the first half. Haaland scored his 25th goal of the season in the second half to put the visitors on level terms.
However, the Cityzens’ joy was short-lived as Thomas Partey and Myles Lewis-Skelly scored in quick succession to stun them.
Kai Havertz then scored from a classic counter-attacking move and Ethan Nwaneri compounded the Cityzens’ misery by scoring with virtually the last kick of the match.
It was a horror show and definitely not the first of its kind in the season for Guardiola’s all-conquering team.
Kevin de Bruyne coming in as a substitute in the second half and trying desperately to reduce the deficit was a sorry sight.
As was the Cityzens’ reluctance to summon Jack Grealish, a 100 million GBP signing of theirs, in their pursuit of goals.
Tough Month Ahead for City
Manchester City will face Real Madrid in a monumental UEFA Champions League tie on February 11 and 19.
As things stand now, they should find it really difficult to get past the most successful club in Europe.
In addition to that, they will also have to face Newcastle United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in what promises to be a severely testing month for them.
Unless, the Manchester City players show more hunger for a victory, it should be difficult for them to have a respectable season.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Propaganda Photo
Recording Date: 02.02.2025