A SCRAPPY Simon Mullock YEAR
Rodri’s scruffy late winner breaks BIG MATCH VERDICT
GIVE Manchester City the Premier League trophy now.
Drape it in blue and white ribbons and send the engraver around to the Etihad.
Because if the reigning champions can be outplayed and outfought like they were at the Emirates and still win, then it’s tough to see who can stop them finishing top of the pile for the sixth time in 10 years.
Rodri’s scuffed strike in the third minute of injury time made it 11 wins on the bounce for Pep Guardiola’s men.
It was only City’s second effort on target. The first had come courtesy of Riyad Mahrez’s disputed 57th-minute penalty.
Ovation
But City are now 11 points clear of the rest – with closest challengers Chelsea and Liverpool set to face each other at Stamford Bridge today.
A perfect storm has struck for City during the festive period.
But, deep down, Guardiola will know he got away with one in north London.
Mikel Arteta, watching from home after testing positive for Covid, must have felt sick to his stomach at the final whistle.
Arteta will
know in his heart that when it came to the crunch, Arsenal imploded in five mad, second-half
minutes
But despite the pride in a performance that saw the Gunners given a standing ovation by their fans at the end, the Spaniard will know that when it came to the crunch his team imploded in the space of five mad, second-half minutes.
It would be easy to say Arsenal’s inexperience cost them – had the main culprits not been serial offender Granit Xhaka and £27million Brazilian defender Gabriel.
Confronted
Xhaka clearly stuck out a knee to block Bernardo Silva as the midfielder danced into the Arsenal box.
But he then compounded the offence by grabbing a fistful of the Portuguese’s shirt.
Referee Stuart Attwell didn’t see anything untoward until he was advised by VAR official Jarred Gillett to take a look at the pitchside monitor.
Xhaka confronted Silva and Gabriel was booked after being caught raking the penalty spot with his studs.
But when peace was restored, Riyad Mahrez still scored for the fifth successive game to bring his team level.
Arsenal’s fury over VAR’S failure to intervene as City keeper Ederson appeared to trip Martin Odegaard when the game was goalless began to simmer again.
And that was when the contest really swung the way of the champions.
Almost immediately, it needed a brilliant goalline clearance by Nathan Ake to prevent Aymeric Laporte scoring an embarrassing own-goal with a wayward header.
Bodycheck
And when the ball was cleared to City’s Gabriel Jesus on the halfway line, Gabriel’s crude bodycheck brought him a second yellow card with a third of the game still to play.
City are the worst team in the world to face with just 10 men. Arsenal themselves were humbled 5-0 at the
Etihad in August after having Xhaka sent off.
But with coach Carlos Cuesta plugged into Arteta by a pair of airpods, assistant Albert Stuivenberg sent on Rob Holding to shore up the gap left by Gabriel.
City passed and probed, but they were being held at arm’s length by the Gunners with such ease that they later threw on Emile Smith Rowe to ask the visitors a few more questions. Then
Kevin De Bruyne tried to find Rodri as he made a forward run into the Arsenal box.
The ball fell instead to Laporte and when his shot was blocked by Holding, it fell perfectly for Rodri to steer a shot past Aaron Ramsdale.
City’s players were pelted by objects thrown from the stands as they celebrated by the corner flag, while Guardiola went wild on the touchline.
It is only the second time they have overturned a half-time deficit to win a Premier League game since 1995.
Guardiola blamed fatigue on their failure to meet Arsenal on the front foot during an opening half in which the Gunners were first to every loose ball. Thomas Partey set the tone by tackling anything within his compass, while goalscorer Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli gave Ake and Joao Cancelo a torrid time on the flanks.
But City dug in – and then dug themselves out of a hole.
“S**t club, no history,” chanted Arsenal’s supporters towards the visitors as the game unravelled before their eyes.
But the reality is that City are now making history.