Wgive in to the brave new world which, at least for Arsenal fans, looked very similar to the old world.
David Luiz was once again the setback for Arsenal, while their accident-prone Brazilian arrived as a scuba diver, missed a goal, gave a penalty and was sent off.
Even by his standards it was a bizarre 25-minute job and, for a man who is trying to negotiate a new contract, it’s not exactly a great way to present his case.
Mikel Arteta had left him out of the initial XI but, with Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari needing to leave injured early, Luiz had his chance. Nothing went well for the Gunners in the strange and empty Etihad, and it wasn’t their fault that Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Raheem Sterling appeared fit, hungry, sharp and close to the best.
Arsenal was in condition for the first 15 minutes, but was largely one-sided for the rest of the evening.
Sterling opened the scoring shortly after half-time when Luiz hacked an out of place pass by Bruyne and inadvertently pushed England forward. Sterling made no mistakes.
Luiz then dragged Mahrez down as the former Leicester striker passed him. Referee Anthony Taylor had no choice but to send him away. De Bruyne eliminated the penalty and the game is over.
Phil Foden entered as a sub and hid the third, after Sergio Aguero hit the post. Arsenal’s best player was their keeper Bernd Leno, who made a series of saves to keep the score almost respectable.
The city had 20 attempts, 12 of which were on target. Arsenal made three efforts but failed to rally one on target.
It would have been a perfectly satisfying evening for the hosts if it hadn’t been for a bad injury suffered by Eric Garcia later when he collided with Ederson. There was all-round concern, and a 10-minute delay as it was lifted.
At the start of the game, the players had gone to their knees for the Black Lives Matter campaign.
With coronavirus and social justice in minds as much as football, it was an unusual recovery. But for Luiz, it was deja vu again. And also for the team: in terms of determination and safety, Arsenal still seems to be a mile away from the upper sides.
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