Man City Capitalizes on Arsenal's Missteps in Thrilling Premier League Title Race

The Premier League title race has taken another dramatic turn as Manchester City seized the advantage following Arsenal’s recent slip-ups.

Manchester City players celebrating a crucial goal in the Premier League

The Super Sunday clash at the Etihad Stadium between Man City and Arsenal arguably had the destination of the Premier League title on the line, given the respective positions of the two teams.

Were the hosts to triumph, they would move to within three points of the Gunners with a game in hand, but if the visitors headed back to North London with all three points, they'd be nine ahead (six even if City won the game in hand) with only five games to play.

Insane tempo

Mathematically, it would still be possible for Arsenal to be caught, but the likelihood would be minuscule.

The Gunners had got the better of their opponents in recent league games, being unbeaten in five, though they were comprehensively undone by Pep Guardiola's side in the recent Carabao Cup final.

An insane tempo to the start of the game saw chances for both sides in the opening five minutes, City going closest when Rayan Cherki's shot was deflected onto the post.

Once Arsenal had settled, however, they had the hosts on the back foot.

Cherki's exceptional quality

Cristhian Mosquera's winning of two of his three tackles in the opening quarter hour was a major reason why City couldn't get up the pitch, with Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice's 14 and 12 touches respectively, bypassing the likes of Rodri and stopping City's attacks at source.

It took a moment of real quality to open up the visiting defence, however, as Rayan Cherki tip-toed around Gabriel and escaped the attentions of Rice and Piero Hincapie before firing home the opener with City's first shot on target.

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Mikel Arteta said Arsenal needed to be more “ruthless” and lamented that “luck” was not on their side as Manchester City took control of the Premier League title race with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Gunners in a frantic clash at the Etihad.

City still trail their title rivals by three points but if they win their game in hand over doomed Burnley in midweek, they will leapfrog the Gunners at the top with just five games remaining.

Perhaps predictably, Erling Haaland was the hero as he expertly swept home with 25 minutes remaining and Pep Guardiola's side clung on despite Arsenal hitting the woodwork on multiple occasions in the second half, through Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes, and Kai Havertz rippling the roof of the net deep in injury time.

Although Gabriel was “lucky” to avoid a red card for pushing his head towards Haaland’s, Arteta reflected that the title race showdown could have gone either way. “I don't think there was any difference between the two teams,” he said. “There is an element of luck, whether the ball goes in or not. We were close, not close enough.”