In these cases, it is said that you should not be late. In the decisive match for the English title, Manchester City struck first. From the 7th minute, City took the lead in front of their London rival thanks to the opener of the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne. For Arsenal, who set out to conquer a first national title since 2004, it couldn’t have started off worse.
Let us recall the context. Before kick-off, the Gunners were leading the Premier League with a 5 point lead (75 pts) over their rival of the day. Problem all the same for Arsenal: the Londoners have two more games in the standings. The deal was therefore rather simple: in the event of defeat, Arsenal could be virtually overtaken in the standings by Pep Guardiola’s team, and give up on their title dreams, 19 years later.
Conversely, of course, in the event of victory, the Skyblues, still in the race for the semi-finals of the Champions League where Real awaits them, and qualified for the final of the Cup, could for their part take a big step towards a third title in a row, the fifth in the last six seasons. It was therefore all of England who had their eyes riveted on this duel at the top.
Big option on the title for City
After the opener, the game was fairly balanced, but it was City who had the best chances, thanks in particular to the Haaland phenomenon. The Citizens even doubled the bet shortly before the break in two stages. Stones’ header was disallowed for the first time before being validated after using VAR. At 2-0 returning to the locker room, City glimpsed the trophy of champion of England.
It became even clearer as soon as the resumption, with the double of De Bruyne (51st) which put an end to the suspense. Groggy, Arsenal failed to recover from that third goal. The match lost interest. The Gunners did well to reduce the score with 4 minutes remaining with a goal from defender Rob Holding. But that didn’t change anything. Especially since at the very end of the match, Erling Haaland, hair in the wind, struck for City’s fourth goal. Clean and flawless.
In the Premier League standings, Arsenal is still unofficially in the lead with two points ahead of City, but that’s a sham. Manchester have two games less and have the means to catch up easily, given their demonstration of the day. Yes, Manchester City took a big option to preserve their title of champion of England. His goal now is to win the Champions League.
