Arsenal Humbles Manchester City 5-1 At Emirates Stadium
Arsenal delivered a statement of intent in the Premier League title race with a 5-1 humbling of champions Manchester City, closing the gap at the top to six points on Sunday.
Captain Martin Odegaard fired Arsenal into a second-minute lead to the delight of the fans. However, Erling Haaland’s 55th-minute equaliser for Manchester City, his 250th senior career goal, had briefly raised the visitor’s hopes.
For a moment it looked as though Arsenal’s earlier misses might haunt them but 38 seconds after the restart Phil Foden gave the ball away and Thomas Partey’s shot deflected off Stones to leave City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega with no chance.
With their tails up, Arsenal looked to rub City’s noses in the dirt and defender Lewis-Skelly took a pass from Declan Rice, before sending a right-footed shot past the diving Ortega to make the scores 3-1.
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz then made up for his earlier miss with a clinical finish from Gabriel Martinelli’s pass after a brilliant counter-attack to send the fans at the Emirates Stadium into a frenzy.
The party was already in full swing when substitute Ethan Nwaneri left goalkeeper Ortega for dead with a sublime curling finish after a long passing move. 5-1!!
The goal was the icing on top of a beautiful cake as the Gunners thrashed rivals Manchester City to keep its hopes alive in the Premier League title race.
A win for the ages by @Arsenal over the reigning Premier League champions #ARSMCI pic.twitter.com/nyGdZTPuAN
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 2, 2025
Arsenal are now 14 games unbeaten in the league and have 50 points from 24 games, with leaders Liverpool on 56 from 23. Manchester City are a distant fourth with 41 points.
Arsenal have been accused of being over-reliant on set-piece goals this season but on Sunday they played with fluency and flare to rack up their biggest home win of the league season.
“It was a top game, a top performance and with the fans and the atmosphere it can’t be better, so very happy,” Odegaard said. “In the end, I think we got what we deserved.”
City, whose six-game unbeaten run in the league had suggested they were returning to form, were generally second-best apart from a lively spell before halftime when Arsenal keeper David Raya was forced into a couple of crucial saves.
“It is difficult. I think all of us don’t take losing well,” City defender John Stones said. “It is hard to put into words straight after a game like that. How we played in the last 30 minutes was not acceptable.”
Arsenal will now try to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit in Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final at Newcastle United, while Manchester City will have to dust themselves down as a seismic UEFA Champions League playoff against Real Madrid looms.
Sunday’s Premier League results
Brentford 0-2 Tottenham
Manchester United 0-2 Crystal Palace
Arsenal 5-1 Manchester City.
Arsenal’s statement win closes the gap to Liverpool at the top to six points pic.twitter.com/f2Jjf91MW0
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 2, 2025
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