ARCTIC FLUNKIES
Miserable night for Wenger as the end of his reign moves a step closer
IT was always going to be ugly. We just did not know it was going to be this ugly.
Make no mistake. This was the night the curtain was brought down on Arsene Wenger’s 22-year reign at Arsenal. The end of a legend.
The fans have given up, the players have given up, and the only excuse was Manchester City’s sheer brilliance as Pep Guardiola’s championselect destroyed their hosts.
It is unravelling so quickly that you begin to wonder whether Wenger (below) can even last the month, let alone limp through to the end of the campaign, because it will only get worse.
He looked a broken man, rooted to his seat in the dugout as getting up would probably only have prompted the supporters to direct their fury at him.
The fans have turned on Wenger and his departure is only a matter of time which, after everything he has done for the club during his reign, seems horribly sad.
It was painful, verging on the embarrassing, as the Frenchman’s empire crumbles around him in the most humiliating fashion.
Defeats like these are what happens in the dog days of any fading manager’s reign and, when Wenger goes, they will show this match as the night Arsenal’s greatest-ever
manager finally lost control. The fans stayed away in their droves, rafts of empty seats because of the freezing weather, but that did not stop 3,000 City supporters making the trip south.
That is the difference between making an effort when your team is doing well and giving up on them as Gunners fans clearly have on Wenger.
No one should forget just how good City were, their three first-half goals were wonderful, each a work of art. The sort of goals that Wenger’s teams used to score back in the day.
But Arsenal were pathetic, lame and heartless. The first goal went in after 15 minutes and the mood quickly turned toxic in the half-empty stadium.
Leroy Sane made a run in from the left, he fed Bernardo Silva, and the City midfielder was given far too much space by Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac to curl a brilliant shot into the top corner.
Arsenal had shown moments with Aaron Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan threatening but, from the moment City went ahead, you could see the fragile confidence disappear from Wenger’s men. City’s second goal after 28 minutes was another terrific move, Sane again was at the heart of things, his pass was flicked on by Sergio Aguero and City’s other Silva, David, fired home past Petr Cech.
Five minutes later, City produced an even better team goal. David Silva, Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker all combined to set up Sane to finish from close range.
The Gunners fans who had turned up booed their team off at half time as they chanted: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”, and it was hard to disagree.
Arsenal at least showed some heart after the restart – but things still went from bad to worse.
City’s Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi hacked down Mkhitaryan to concede a 52nd-minute penalty.
But, incredibly, PierreEmerick Aubameyang saw his spot-kick brilliantly stopped by City keeper Ederson’s diving save.
Just when you think it cannot get any worse, it generally does.
This was awful, one of the worst nights for Wenger, and the end is surely nigh.