THE SANE OLD STORY
3-0 in the Cup final 3-0 at the Emirates
CHAMPIONS-eleCt Manchester City thrashed Arsenal 3-0 for the second time in five days last night to go 16 points clear at the top of the Premier league table.
three first-half goals in 18 blistering minutes by Bernardo Silva, David Silva and man of the match leroy Sane swept Arsene Wenger’s team aside, just as City did in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Abject Arsenal were booed off, yet manager Arsene Wenger said: ‘I think the players put a pretty huge performance in but unfortunately we had some weak defending.’
ARSENE WENGER last night made the bewildering claim that his forlorn players produced a ‘huge’ performance as they were brushed aside by Manchester City for the second time in four days.
Arsenal slumped to another humiliating 3-0 loss at the hands of Pep guardiola’s runaway league leaders just days after they lost the Carabao Cup final to City by the same scoreline.
It was yet another embarrassing experience for Wenger and the gunners, who were booed off by their own supporters at halftime and full-time, albeit in a largely empty stadium as fans stayed at home due in part to the freezing conditions.
But despite the defeat, Wenger, whose position has plunged into further uncertainty, chose to praise his players after yet another humiliating night at the Emirates Stadium.
‘It’s tough but it’s explainable after what happened on Sunday and the consequences of the hype about our performance on Sunday,’ said Wenger. ‘It hits you but I think the players put a pretty huge performance in today but unfortunately we had some weak defending.’
Wenger now faces another critical seven days. His side travel to Brighton on Sunday before flying to Italy to face AC Milan for the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie next Thursday.
And the Frenchman has challenged his side to emerge stronger from their tumultuous few days to prove they have the character to play for Arsenal.
‘What we have to do is stay together and focus and work even harder to get the confidence back,’ he said.
‘The confidence is low and that is always dangerous. But you get out of it by staying together. They have to show now that they can play for Arsenal.’ On supporters turning on his team, Wenger added: ‘ Overall you want to earn your fans with the quality of performances.
‘That has to come from us that. Of course, we focus on the next game and continue to put the effort we’ve put in tonight.
‘We played twice against the best team in the country at the moment. We have quality and we want to show that.
‘We can do it, of course. Confidence is from knowing that you have done it before and my confidence is in the quality of the players.’
Meanwhile, guardiola rallied round his managerial colleague, ue, saying: ‘He knows my admiration afor him. I can understand - that situation, He knows how to handle it. He has all the experience and I am sure he is going to take the right decision.’
City are now just five wins away from securing the Premier League title, but guardiola called on his team too stay focused.
‘We are fighting for the most important title of the season,, the Premier League,’ he said. ‘We have always been more focused on this than the Champions League, e the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.’
In the league, City face Chelsea at home on Sunday then face Stoke and Everton away, before the Manchester derby at home on April 7 and then a trip to Tottenham.
‘We must be focused,’ said guardiola. ‘The next fixtures in the Premier League are terrible in terms of the quality of our opponents. It’s so difficult to win two games in a row in three days against a team like Arsenal it’s so complicated. ‘MentaMentally we were strong. We were clinical. We scored threo outstanding stadi goals. After that it was not easy. The first 15 minutes of the second half we were poor. Still, it’s an amazing result for us. ‘We are out of the FA Cup and we won the League Cup. Now it’s just two competitions and you fight for one of them for 10 months. These are the last steps to be champions, you keep going until the end. ‘Now we play Chelsea. Hopefully we have the desire to win, to be the best team in England. We forget that we are tired.’ Man of the match Leroy Sane, who scored the third, echoed his manager. ‘He (Pep) always (asks from) every player to give all 100 per cent what you have,’ said the germany forward. ‘You don’t rest and you give everything in training and on pitch. He tries to see where you can improve and he helps you straightaway.’ ‘I think we had a really good first half and played really well. The two counter-attacks when we played really well worked and everyone who had to score scored.’