The duel between Manchester City and Arsenal was much ado about nothing. The champion and the challenger drew goalless at the Etihad Stadium in a match marked by caution, in which there were few chances and in which the big winner was Liverpool. The 'reds' delivered by winning against Brighton 2-1 at Anfield and are already leaders of the Premier League with nine games left that will be heart-stopping, with the three teams on just three points.
Manchester City and Arsenal had not warmed up and the match already had an extra dose of tension. And Liverpool did their homework against Brighton and the duel became a true final for both, with the possibility of leaving a direct rival in the lurch. That's how Guardiola and Arteta took it. The one from Sampedor put all the meat on the grill with a 4-5-1 in which Kovacic accompanied Rodri to stop the Gunners' gallops and in which De Bruyne had to take the lead in an eleven full of magic in the three-quarter zone.
Manchester City
Stefan Ortega, Akanji, Rúben Dias, Aké (Rico Lewis, min. 27), Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic (Grealish, min. 61), Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Foden (Doku, min. 61) and Haaland.
0
–
0
Arsenal
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior (Tomiyasu, min. 66), Jorginho (Thomas, min. 66), Rice, Odegaard, Saka (Martinelli, min. 78), Gabriel Jesus (Trossard, min. 72) and Havertz .
-
Referee:
Anthony Taylor. He cautioned Gabriel Jesus and David Raya. -
Incidents:
Matchday 30 in the Premier League played at the Etihad Stadium in front of 55,097 spectators.
The agglomeration of players that Pep arranged on the wide field was such that Arsenal had little else to do but give up meters and wait for their opportunity in hiding. Thus began a positional dominance that little by little subdued the London team, who knew that sooner or later they were going to have their chance. City settled completely in the opposite field and moved like an accordion from side to side with Gvardiol or Bernardo Silva very open, waiting for their rival to break, something that did not happen in the entire first act. Only a weak shot by Aké managed to produce the locals, slow in circulation and without finding Foden and De Bruyne between the lines against an Arsenal that went from less to more and that reached the break warning with two counterattacks that Gabriel Jesus sent out by few centimeters.
Caution
After the resumption, the heart rate rose. Arsenal changed their register, advanced meters to press upwards and put a City team whose legs were shaking in trouble. Gabriel Jesus once again had a clear chance but he missed by centimeters and Guardiola then decided to change the plan. From football control it went to vertigo. He introduced Grealish and Doku in one fell swoop, and his team thanked him for achieving that imbalance that had been missing for an hour. That was when the Etihad fans woke up from their lethargy. The new drawing freed De Bruyne, who took charge and guided a City that pressed in the final stretch of the clash and allowed the duel to be broken.
In that scenario the coin could fall to either side. The fear of losing was great, but also the possibility of passing up an opportunity that could be key in the fight for the title. Doku shot wide on two occasions, Haaland, missing all afternoon, failed to finish in the small area and Stefan Ortega saved the furniture in a one-on-one match with Trossard. The two were able to win in a duel marked by caution in which Liverpool came out on top, the brand new leader of the Premier League with two points ahead of Arsenal and three over Manchester City.
#Liverpool #takes #advantage #CityArsenal
