Machester City blows open EPL title race with 3-1 win vs. Arsenal

Arsenal’s hopes of winning the club’s first Premier League title since 2004 took a major hit Wednesday as Manchester City, the defending English champion, scored two second half goals to break a 1-1 deadlock and top the Gunners 3-1 in London.

Kevin De Bruyne gave the visitors an early lead before Bukayo Saka equalized from the penalty spot just before halftime. It was all City after the intermission, though. Jack Grealish put Pep Guardiola’s team in front with about 20 minutes to go, and star striker Erling Haaland — who else? — put the outcome beyond doubt with his Prem-leading 26th goal of the season. 

Here are three quick thoughts on City’s emphatic win:

Gunners continue to flail …

Arsenal led the Prem relatively comfortably for most of the 2022-23 season. But City, which has won the league in four of the last five years, has methodically closed an eight-point gap since mid-January.

With the sputtering Gunners having lost and tied their two most recent Prem games, the Cityzens went into Wednesday’s match trailing the Gunners by just three points. Guardiola said that getting within striking distance was a boon to his team, who knew that a victory would pull them level atop the table. “They dropped points at Everton and Brentford, otherwise we would’ve come here seven or eight points behind them,” Guardiola told NBC’s broadcast team afterward. “We were lucky, mentally, that we were closer. We knew we could do it.”

City and Arsenal with now both 51 points, although the latter has played one fewer match. The way the Gunners are performing right now, that advantage is perhaps the lone silver lining following the defeat.

… but Arsenal’s title hopes will hinge on response

One could argue that the Gunners beat themselves on Wednesday; the opener came off a horrendous giveaway by fullback Takehiro Tomiyasu, while center back Gabriel Magalhães was dispossessed in the buildup to Grealish’s well-taken game winner:

“We just gave them the goals,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. 

Champions don’t do that. Arteta is runaway favorite for manager of the year, but his best work must come now. The Gunners are clearly lacking the confidence that carried them earlier this season, and they won’t have much time to rediscover it with a matinée at Aston Villa looming on Saturday. Arsenal must be near-perfect the rest of the way to keep pace with City, which they’ll face again April 26 in Manchester.

If that ends up being the title decider it’s hard to like their chances, as Arsenal has now lost 11 consecutive Premier League matches to the Sky Blues.

Manchester City finding its feet

City has posted a 6W-3L-1T record in its last 10 games — not all that impressive by their lofty standards.

Still, Wednesday’s resounding victory was a statement of intent by Guardiola’s men. For weeks, this match had been on the minds of both sets of fans. There was a feeling among the home supporters that at least a draw was necessary to keep the Sky Blues at bay with more than a third of the season still to play.

Meantime, City knew that beating the leaders on their own turf would give them a distinct psychological advantage down the stretch. Their championship pedigree was on full display Wednesday; as the contest played out, it was obvios which of the two team had been there before.

The magnitude of the occasion appeared to destabilize Arsenal in key moments, especially in the second half. By contrast, the battle-tested guests calmly took their opportunities when they came and punished the hosts’ mistakes ruthlessly.

Even without those unforced errors, City had the better of the chances, putting six shots on target to Arsenal’s one: Saka’s goal. The visitors were also unlucky not to be awarded a second half penalty after Haaland was hacked down; the call was overturned when VAR determined  that the Norwegian was a fraction offside in the buildup.

With 15 games to go, Guardiola’ squad sent a warning that they won’t give up their title easily.

“We want to do it again,” the coach said.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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