Holding scoring Arsenal’s consolation goal

Match Report – Match Highlights – Post-Match Press Conference

Final Result: Man City 4-1 Arsenal (De Bruyne 7′, 54′, Stones 45′, Haaland 90′ | Holding 86′)

Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey, Xhaka (Jorginho 60′); Saka (Nelson 80′), Odegaard (Smith-Rowe 71′), Martinelli (Trossard 60′); G. Jesus (Nketiah 80′)

It was always going to be an uphill task, following Arsenal’s atrocious and shambolic record at the Etihad, or against Man City in general, with the Gunners losing 11 consecutive games to their hosts. The shaky results prior to the visit of the Etihad didn’t inspire confidence and Arteta trusted that his strongest XI would have what it takes to battle it out against the best team in the land.

Early on, Man City broke the deadlock when John Stones lofted a cross field ball that got to Erling Haaland with Rob Holding stuck in on him. The Viking forward still managed to tee up Kevin de Bruyne who had Gabriel and Ben White to beat, but with the Arsenal defenders backing up instead of charging onto the Belgian maestro, KDB picked his spot and side-footed the ball past Aaron Ramsdale to send the Etihad into delirium.

Man City piled on the pressure when Haaland got the better of Holding, which was pretty much the theme of the day, and slotting the ball to KDB’s path. The Belgian made mince meat of Gabriel and smashed in a shot from close range, but White was on hand to make a superb block. Haaland received the ball, charged in the box and showed some quick feet to waltz past Holding and Oleksandr Zinchenko, but his strike wasn’t clean and Ramsdale made a good save.

Thomas Partey was having a stinker and his frailing performance was on show when he allowed Ilkay Gundogan to ease past him on the byline, allowing the Man City captain to tee up Haaland on the edge. The Norwegian’s shot was smothered superbly by Ramsdale who used his feet to clear the ball before Haaland reached over to make a rebound.  

With the pressure intensifying, Mikel Arteta was hoping that he would go into the break with a single deficit, but it was not to be thanks to VAR folks doing their thing. De Bruyne swung in a dead ball that was nodded in by an unmarked Stones, but the linesman’s flag ruled out the goal for an offside. On further review, White’s trailing foot put Stones onside and the goal stood. What was shocking to see how Holding, who was supposed to be marking Stones, was nowhere near the ball or his marker. It’s rather unfortunate that our demise as a defensive unit coincided with his arrival in the squad to fill in William Saliba, but I just hope Arteta takes cue from this and gives Jakub Kiwior a shot in his stead, and search for a right-sided center back this summer. I believe he have had enough Holding for the campaign.

The game clincher arrived in typical Arsenal capitulation fashion with Martin Odegaard cooking up a very weak pass that was meant for Thomas Partey but de Bruyne anticipated it, fed Haaland, moved to the edge of the area and received it back from Haaland before placing it past Ramsdale to make it 3-0. Gabriel and Holding were in sixes and sevens with this Man City attacking play. It was laughable on second viewing and what made it worse for me was Holding’s positioning for the goal. He literally paved the way for Haaland to thread in a simple pass to de Bruyne who wasn’t going to grant Ramsdale any mercy.

Arsenal got a consolation when Leandro Trossard showed great movement on the right and cut in before feeding Holding on the edge of the area. The defender picked his spot and placed the ball past Ederson to burn his clean sheet, making it six in 21 appearances for the Brazilian goalie. 

The game was put beyond doubt when Stones’ header was picked up by the returning Phil Foden who controlled the ball superbly and teed up Haaland for a one time finish to take his tally in the Premier League to 33 and his total in the campaign to 49. His numbers this season have been downright ridiculous. You know, them Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in their peak levels.

This marked Arsenal’s 12th consecutive loss to Man City, their longest losing streak to any club in their history. What makes this loss worse is the fact that Arsenal has dropped points for the fourth game in a row, the same kind of pathetic run they had in February, but unlike early in the campaign when they had a chance to regroup and gain more points with seven wins on the trot, the implications of this bad run of form is far reaching, as it is going to cost Mikel Arteta and his team their title dreams. Arsenal’s last Premier League triumph was 19 years ago. I guess the wait will have to continue. 

In the course of the season, Arsenal has played some impressive football and were odds on to seal the Premier League title, but Man City remained on the prowl, stayed within touching distance  and were not fazed by the massive amount of points they were trailing the Gunners, because they had the experience, depth, and most importantly, quality, to see themselves through. Arsenal on the other hand, were overly and understandably reliant on the first team, who produced the goods on a consistent basis, but when the injuries crept in, it crippled the squad. In those moments when Gabriel Jesus suffered that long term injury from the FIFA World Cup, Arsenal had to dig from within to get the goals that took them over the line in games, but Eddie Nketiah worked to the best of his ability, and eventually lost his place to Leandro Trossard, who showed his quality and led the line till Jesus returned. 

In central midfield, Arsenal has been lucky in regards to the fitness of Odegaard, Xhaka and Partey all season long. Yes, Partey had that brief stint in February were he had a rib injury scare, and with Mo Elneny suffering a long term injury and Albert Sambi Lokonga not up to scratch, Arsenal had to make a deadline day deal for Jorginho, who really isn’t a world beater, but he had the experience to do his thing. The real deal would have been to get either Moises Caicedo or Declan Rice, and I hope they sort that out this summer. As for Odegaard / Xhaka’s replacement, Fabio Vieira, he has been very underwhelming in his first season in England, but the quality is there and he’s like a diamond in the dirt that needs to be sharpened before we can get the full package. 

Arsenal didn’t have such a luxury at the back, as the unfortunate injuries to William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu put the team on the lurch, and its really unfortunate to see how the introduction of Holding to the backline coincided with these terrible run of results. In this same period, Partey has not covered himself in glory, as the protection to the backline has been non-existent in weeks but as a team, the defensive frailties have taken center stage and the team has been punished for it. It’s even worse when you add the errors leading to goals, like Partey’s lapse in concentration against West Ham, Gabriel conceding a penalty, Ramsdale passing the ball to Carlos Alcaraz, among other plethora of shambolic displays at the back. 

Arteta wants the lads to forget about the result quickly and move forward to the next game against Chelsea, while Ramsdale says the lads wouldn’t give up. However, we have to wake up and face the music, knowing that a second place finish is probably the best outcome, and it was by our own doing. We were the ones that have played very poorly in recent weeks and this is the repercussion.

Arsenal led the sprint for the Premier League title, but Man City is odds on to win the marathon.

Sayonara.

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