He almost always plays well. And almost whenever he plays well, he wins. But he also does it when he plays badly. That is why he has not lost since November 6 and has 11 victories in a row to further reinforce his status as leader of the ultra-competitive Premier League. There is talk of Manchester City that traced a history that painted badly against a very good Arsenal and celebrated a narrow victory by 2 to 1 at the Emirates Stadium in London at the start of the 21st date of the Premier League.
The Spanish Rodri Hernández, with a hoot, was the author of the victory of the Citizen in the third minute of injury after capitalizing on a loose ball after a failed attempt by Aymeric Laporte. It was the culmination of a comeback for Manchester City, as Arsenal had gone ahead in the 31st minute of the first half with a dry shot from Bukayo Saka. The City had reached the tie with a penalty transformed by the Algerian Riyad Mahrez at 12 minutes of the complement after the intervention of the VAR.
Arsenal, which could not be led by its Spanish coach Mikel Arteta because he was positive for covid-19, had been complicated in 1960 with the expulsion of Brazilian Gabriel Magalhaes, which forced him to play the last half hour with one less man. However, he was never outmatched in the game by the pointer.
“In the second half, in a minute everything changed. In football we try to analyze many things, but sometimes the coin simply falls on your side and sometimes on the other,” Guardiola said about that key moment towards game time, which he paved the way to yours.
The defeat of Arsenal, which ranks fourth in the table, was especially painful, both for arriving in the last gasp of the game and for the great first half played, in which it could have achieved a wider advantage, especially driven by the great game from the young Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli (21 years old), who was inches away from returning the advantage to the Gunners if it were not for a remarkable save by Nathan Aké, who cleared the ball when he was about to cross the goal line of the goal defended by Ederson.
In the standings, City is placed with 53 points and provisionally distanced with 11 more than Chelsea (2nd) and with a margin of 12 over Liverpool (3rd). Chelsea and Liverpool face each other on Sunday in a high-flying duel in which German coach Jurgen Klopp will not be able to train Liverpool due to a suspected positive test for covid-19.
Manchester City therefore continues unstoppable and they have already won eleven in a row in the Premier League. They have won all their games in the championship since their 2-0 loss at home to Crystal Palace on October 30. Arsenal are fourth, within the Champions League zone and break their good streak, after having won their four previous league games.
“Arsenal were better”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola of Spain acknowledged that Arsenal were better at the Emirates Stadium. The Catalan underlined the numerous absences and the fatigue that his footballers drag. Even so, they achieved the eleventh consecutive victory that accentuates their dominance in the Premier Legue.
“Arsenal were better. We faced a team that in the final stretch of the year has fought to be among the top four. They also had six or seven days since they played the last game. We, however, had only two days and a half, “he recalled.
“We have returned to play and we had no energy. That is why we tried to put one more player in the middle of the field,” explained the Spanish coach.
“Winning eleven games in a row is great right now. But every time I looked at the bench I saw that we had four players from the academy, there were no more,” Guardiola said. “We have had many injuries and in this period we were mentally and physically tired. Sometimes it is our turn.”
Guardiola insisted that coming out with the Emirates’ three points was a difficult task. “It was difficult because we didn’t have energy, we tried and in the second half the game changed, the penalty, Aké’s action, the sending off. Sometimes he’s on your side, sometimes not. At the same time, we know how much it means. win here at the Emirates “, he closed.
Victory and scare
Tottenham also achieved an agonizing victory. Davinson Sánchez, in the sixth minute of added time, scored the winning goal for Antonio Conte’s team on their visit to Watford. The match was temporarily interrupted due to a “medical emergency” in the stands of the Vicarage Road stadium.
In the 37th minute of the complement the referee Robert Jones, after receiving a communication through his earpiece, decided to stop the match because a spectator had a health problem and needed health care. The clash was stopped with the 22 players on the pitch awaiting news while several members of the local club staff crossed the court to assist the Lower Graham Taylor supporter in the stands.
Minutes later the doctors took the fan from the stands to undergo more exhaustive examinations while the rest of the public accompanied with a resounding applause. Ten minutes later, Robert Jones ordered the resumption of the clash between Watford and Tottenham. On the end the agonizing goal of the Colombian would arrive.
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