Manchester City 2 – 1 Arsenal – Match Report

Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal

Erling Haaland’s second-half strike condemned us to defeat after an eventful afternoon in Manchester.

Rayan Cherki had given the home side the lead inside 20 minutes after shifting the ball away from Gabriel in the area, but within two minutes Kai Havertz had charged down Gianluigi Donnarumma to bring us level.

We twice came close to going ahead in the second half – Havertz had a shot saved at close range and Ebere Eze hit the inside of the post – before Haaland pounced inside the six-yard box.

Gabriel then hit the other post, and Havertz headed just over, but we could not find the second goal.

Frantic start

The most eagerly anticipated fixture of the season took no time at all to get going.

In the opening five minutes David Raya had to hurry his clearance after a heavy touch almost allowed Erling Haaland to close him down. Moments later Cherki’s curling effort was deflected onto the post by a leaning Gabriel, and into the hands of the grateful Raya.

At the other end we won a couple of corners in quick succession – the second of which was headed wide by a soaring Cristhian Mosquera at the far post.

Havertz, starting up front in place of Viktor Gyokeres, then had a shot blocked at the near post from Martin Odegaard’s throughball.

It had been a frantic opening 15 minutes, and it was followed by two goals in as many minutes.

First Cherki picked up possession outside the area, weaved his way past Gabriel and planted his low right-footed shot just inside the far post.

The celebrations from the home supporters had barely died down when we drew level. Gianluigi Donnarumma received a throw in near his own goalline, but showed just about enough of it to the onrushing Havertz, who got a boot on the clearance to divert the ball home.

Full throttle

We had been behind for just over 100 seconds.

The game began to settle down, but the pace didn’t drop, and both teams were looking dangerous going forward. Haaland screwed a shot wide from the edge of the box following Jeremy Doku’s cut back on the left, and Marc Guehi had a header easily saved by Raya.

Piero Hincapie made a great block in the area to deny Antoine Semenyo, and William Saliba headed a Bernardo Silva corner off the line, but the referee blew for a foul on the keeper anyway.

Havertz meanwhile tried to get on the end of a Mosquera cross, but Abdukodir Khusanov was across to cut it out.

The first-half had been full of intensity, with neither side stepping off the other for a second. It made for a captivating spectacle, befitting the high stakes.

Pressure builds

Gabriel Martinelli was brought on for Noni Madueke for the second half, and the Brazilian’s heavy touch while defending a corner created a chance for Haaland, but he thumped against the post from close range.

Doku was next to try his luck, but shot straight at Raya. The hosts were racking up the shot count now.

At the other end Havertz looked to race onto a pass over the top, and saw his appeals for a foul waved away as he was blocked off by Khusanov.

Two big chances

As the game ticked into the final half hour we twice came close to taking the lead. First Odegaard slid a pass into Havertz’s run in the area. The German took aim but Donnarumma spread himself to make the block, and Martinelli and Odegaard were crowded out on the rebound.

Then we came even closer when Eze’s low curler from just outside the box beat the keeper, but thumped against the foot of the post, and rolled almost across the line to safety. It was agonisingly close.

Within minutes we were punished at the other end. Doku did well on the left wing, fed the ball into O’Reilly, who laid it off to Haaland to finish first time past Raya from close range.

Final frustrations

We needed to respond again. Gabriel saw his header deflected against the post from Odegaard’s deep free-kick, and again the loose ball was cleared away in front of goal.

Deep into injury-time Leandro Trossard sent in a teasing cross for Havertz, but he headed just over.

It would prove to be our last chance of the game, as City moved to within three points of us at the top of the table, and with a game in hand.

What’s next

We have five Premier League matches remaining this season, next up is Newcastle at home next Saturday. That will be followed by the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, away to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, May 5.