PEP CONJURES UP MIKEL SHOWS GAP AN ART CLASS AS CLOSING RAPIDLY
MAN CITY ................. 1 ARSENAL ................. 0
THE sorcerer conjured up a much-needed victory against the apprentice to dampen talk of a mini Etihad crisis. Pep Guardiola had entered this examination against his former Manchester City assistant Mikel Arteta in the knowledge that it was his worst start to a season in 12 years.
A proud Spaniard with lofty standards, the man who City fans believe walks on water, wasn’t exactly sinking but the lifeboat was on standby. Missing their talisman,
Kevin de Bruyne, this performance never looked like reaching the heights of previous inspiring seasons – but it had its moments.
More importantly for Guardiola it contained a goal from Raheem Sterling who has gone from strength to strength in opposition penalty areas.
Guardiola said: “It wasn’t our best performance. We are still away from our best condition.
“We are not able to sustain our performance for 90 minutes. We need more time to grow as a team.
“But this game, this win, is going to help us make a step forward. We can start from here.”
Sterling was absent through injury for England, but Gareth Southgate’s loss was Guardiola’s gain as he pounced in the first half for the only
goal of the game – his 35th Premier League goal since last August.
The Gunners had their chances to end a sequence of seven straight league defeats against the hosts but had City keeper Ederson to blame following a couple of quite stunning stops.
Arteta said: “I am upset that we didn’t get any more from the game.
“But when you have three good chances then you have to score.
“One of those should have been a penalty. How the hell wasn’t it checked with VAR?
“But we showed great heart and great attitude and made it really difficult for Manchester City.”
There was also a late entrance for £45million new boy Thomas Partey, just enough time for him to add to his vast collection of yellow cards.
City, by then, were trying to run down the clock against a side who are growing in stature under Arteta.
The Gunners boss has clearly learned well in his three-and-a-half year apprenticeship in the sky blue half of Manchester.
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