Match Report :
Full-Time
Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City
90+7' Xhaka tries to cross the ball in for Arsenal at the other end City tries to make a run on the other end, only for Ramsdale to take back control of the ball, shortly after which the referee blows for full time.
90+3' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!! Rodri scores in stoppage time to put Manchester City in front in the last moments of the match
Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City
90+1' Arsenal's corner kick is cleared away in the last moments of the match as we look to be heading into a draw after a high-flying attacking match that saw both sides share points at the end of 90 minutes.
90' Arsenal slowing the game down as City looks hungry for a winning goal with Ramsdale collecting the ball and kicking it out soon after
86' Manchester City goes for another attack, with long balls and crosses, with the ball falling for Sterling, whose shot is stopped easily by Ramsdale
84' Substitution for Arsenal! Elneny replaces Bukayo Saka, giving a clear indication to what the Arsenal management is looking forward to
83' Arsenal goes on the attack with Saka having the ball, but is surrounded by the city defence, forcing the ball back into the Arsenal half
82' Manchester City continues to shower attacks one after the other while Arsenal has all its men in and around the box to prevent a loss in the last 10 minutes of regulation time
79' Manchester City playing amid resounding boos after the red card, but continues to enjoy possession and at the end of small passes, Cancelo takes a shot with his left foot which flies over the top of the goal
76' Shot! Saka is released on the right and he makes a run with Ake tracking back and the Dutch makes it in time to block the shot to keep the score 1-1
74' Shot! Bernardo Silva tries to cut on from the right, beats one defender, fails to beat the next and is then assisted as he takes a shot, which is caught comfortably by Ramsdale
72' Substitution! Lacazette is replaced by Smith-Rowe as Arsenal looks to find solutions with a 10-man-squad against Pep's City
70' Manchester city in complete control on the ball as it enjoys possession, tossing the ball across the players in the team and finally Laporte takes a shot that is miles higher from goal
68' Another yellow card for Arsenal! Kevin De Bruyne is brought down by Rob Holding and he goes into the book, minutes after coming on to the pitch.
66' Shot! Manchester City goes on the attack with Sterling's run along the left as he tries a left-footed curler which was well away from goal
64' Yellow Card! Saka gets a yellow card for protesting as Lacazette and Rodri get together and the English international was supposedly demanding a card for the City midfielder
59' Red Card! Gabriel's challenge on Sterling is penalized with a second yellow card as he is sent off, reducing Arsenal to 10-men
57' GOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!! Mahrez scores from the spot to make it all square in Emirates
Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City
53' Penalty! Bernardo Silva tries to make a run inside the box as Xhaka brings him down and the referee points to the spot after a VAR and an on-field check. Xhaka gets a yellow card for the challenge.
52' Chance! Cancelo's back pass is just taken control by Ederson as Lacazette was chasing the ball. The Brazilian takes control of the ball to end the attacking development
49' Lacazette passes the ball to Martinelli, who tries to make a run, but Rodri runs into him, throwing him to the ground. However, no foul as the referee gives a corner
47' Foul! Arsenal lining up in a 4-4-2 formation as City tries to go on attack and Laporte goes down following a challenge from Thomas Partey
46' Arsenal begins the second half with a long ball and the intention looks very clear - more attack and a comprehensive lead
Second-Half Begins!
Half-Time
Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
45' Manchester City tries to go on attack in the final minutes of the first half, but White stops the shot, which is then cleared away by Tomiyasu
42' Chance! Martinelli makes a run along the left, dribbles across two City defenders and takes a shot, which is just wide off goal. Arsenal playing with complete control on the attack in this game with City having zero shots on target so far
41' The free-kick taken by Odegaard flies beyond the touch of any Arsenal player, out of play
40' Foul! Saka tries to make a run along the right, but Cancelo brings him down with a rash challenge. No cards involve and the referee gives a free kick
39' Shot! Saka and Lacazette pull the ball forward from the midfield to the final third and pass it to Martinelli, who tries to curl it into the net, but fails to hit the target
37' Manchester City, on the attack at the other end, has Mahrez making a run along the right, cutting in left and crossing for Jesus, but the Brazilian was closed down as the ball goes out for a goal kick
34' Arsenal goes on the attack again with Martinelli, Saka, Lacazette and Partey involved and Partey's shot is caught comfortably by Ederson to put the attack to bed
31' GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!! Saka gets the ball with a pass from Tierney in the penalty box and hits on his first touch to put the Gunners in front
Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
29' Foul! As Manchester City tries to pass the ball around the midfield, Sterling is brought down with a challenge from Odegaard form behind. In spite of protests form the city players, the referee gives no card
27' Sterling goes on the attack on the other end, along the left flank, but Arsenal has its men back, which forces a back pass to Ake and City begins again
26' Manchester city has conceded just one goal in its first half in the entirety of this Premier League season. As Arsenal goes on the attack, it will be interesting to see if it will be able to increase that tally
24' A cross for Arsenal is the box is received by Tierney, who passes the ball to Saka, but the City defence is back on its feet with Ake warding of the Red attack
21' Ramsdale hits the ball long as Arsenal tries to attack high up the pitch, but the City press gives back possession to the Men in Blue and Silva is fouled to halt the play
19' Shot! De Bruyne makes a run, passes the ball for Jesus, who after being closed down, passes the ball to Sterling. The English winger passes it back to De Bruynem who shoots a curler with his right foots and it flies wide off target
16' Save! Gabriel Martinelli makes a run along the left after a through ball from Saka, glides to the right and takes a shot, which is saved by Ederson
14' Chance! An aerial ball from Sterling into the box, which is headed in by Dias, but it's just wide as the scores remain level in the first quarter off an hour into the game
12' Saka takes the penalty that follows, which is cleared away by the city defence, which gets a throw in-shortly and Ake gets the ball rolling again into play
10' No Penalty! Odegaard makes a run along the right and tries to beat the keeper and goes down. While the stadium demands a penalty, the referee checks with VAR to rule out any chances of the same and gives a corner for Arsenal
9' Arsenal attacks on the counter, with Saka crossing the ball into the Man City box, which is cleared away
7' City dominating possession and now Bernardo Silva and Rodri pair up to find spaces along the right and Gabriel marks the Portuguese well to clear the ball away
6' Chance! De Bruyne's corner kick after a pinball of heads is crossed into the box and Jesus heads it towards goal, but misses the target
4' De Bruyne passes the ball along the left to Sterling, who receives the ball, but he is blocked and concedes a corner
2' Kevin De Bruyne making forward runs and keeps the midfield passing fluid with a run across the field, but no real chance created in the game so far as both teams keep the defence secure
6:01 pm: Kick Off!
Arsenal in red-and-white starts from left to right, with Manchester City, in light-blue, starts form the other end
5:45 pm: Arsenal has won each of its last five Premier League home matches, keeping a clean sheet in each of the last four. It last won five in a row without conceding at home in the competition between January-April 1999.
5:30 pm: Manchester City's Raheem Sterling has scored in each of his last three Premier League matches at Arsenal. The only player to score more against Arsenal is Frenchman Nicolas Anelka, who did so between 2002 and 2009.
5:15 pm: Arsenal made only one change from its last 5-0 vitory over Norwich as Takehiro Tomiyasu replaces Rob Holding.
Manchester City, on the other hand, has decided to start with three changes with no Phil Foden and Jack Grealish as Raheen Sterling and Gabriel Jesus return to the squad. Rodri returns as well to replace Fernandinho.
5:00 pm: Confirmed Line-ups are out!
Arsenal Starting XI: Ramsdale (GK), Kieran Tierney, Benjamin White, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Granit Xhaka, Gabriel MartinellI, Lacazette (C)
Manchester City Starting XI: Ederson (GK), Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias (C), Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez
Match Preview
What was shaping up to be a gripping three-horse Premier League title race heading into Christmas is threatening to become a Manchester City romp to a fourth crown in five seasons.
Pep Guardiola's side opened up an eight-point gap on Wednesday thanks to a 1-0 win at Brentford and will seek to begin the new year as it ended the old when it goes to Arsenal on Saturday seeking an 11th straight league win.
Should that happen, it would be 11 points clear of Chelsea and 12 ahead of Liverpool, which has a game in hand, before its two rivals clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
While fourth-placed Arsenal has also been in impressive form with four successive wins, Mikel Arteta's side has fallen short against the big boys this season and was thrashed 5-0 away to City in August.
Guardiola rubbished suggestions that another title was more or less in the bag after the win at Brentford, but the evidence to the contrary is stacking up.
Only five times in the Premier League era has there been a gap of at least eight points at the top heading into January 1 and on each of those occasions, the leader won the title.
In eight of the last 12 seasons, the team at the summit at the turn of the year proved uncatchable.
While its rivals have suffered from the COVID-19 surge that meant 16 games were postponed in December, City has even managed to dodge that curve ball, winning all seven games in the final month of the year, scoring 24 goals and conceding five.
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Its points tally of 50 is its second-highest after 20 games from its four Premier League title seasons -- behind only the extraordinary 58 it managed in 2017-18.
"The impressive thing is the number of goals they're scoring," Alan Shearer, who won the title with Blackburn Rovers, told Amazon Prime.
"But other than (the 6-3 win over) Leicester on Boxing Day, they are hardly conceding too, which is going to make it really difficult for Chelsea and Liverpool to get back into the race, particularly if you look at City's next two games (Arsenal and Chelsea). If they win those it is pretty much over."
City's irresistible surge means Sunday's clash at Stamford Bridge could all but knock the loser out of the race.
Liverpool is smarting from its 1-0 defeat at Leicester City on Tuesday while Chelsea conceded a stoppage-time equaliser to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday.
After three draws in its last four games, Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta said a win over Liverpool would be the perfect way to kick-start the chase of City.
"Hopefully we can give our fans a good start to the new year in front of the fans here against Liverpool," he said. "It is a tough moment, but we need to stick together and dig in.
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"It is not an easy situation but this is how we have to overcome these difficult moments."
While City has seized control of the title chase, the top-four race looks like being a season-long battle between Arsenal, West Ham United, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham, which is fifth, travels to Crystal Palace on Saturday after Tottenham Hotspur, still unbeaten in the league under new manager Antonio Conte, visits struggling Watford.
Manchester United hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
As the January transfer window opens, all eyes will be on Newcastle United and whether it will flex its new financial muscles in a bid to escape the relegation zone.
It travels to Southampton on Sunday.
(via Reuters )
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